{"id":578620,"date":"2024-04-09T09:19:26","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T13:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/?p=578620"},"modified":"2024-04-09T10:46:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T14:46:05","slug":"5-things-that-could-shape-surgical-robotics-in-the-next-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/5-things-that-could-shape-surgical-robotics-in-the-next-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"5 things that could shape surgical robotics in the next decade"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ll see a lot of surgical robotics talk at this year\u2019s DeviceTalks Boston. Surgical robots are smaller, smarter, and being launched into space. 2024 is going to be a huge year \u2014 here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n

I believe 2024 will be remembered as the year when the surgical<\/a> robotics sector \u2014 not just one company \u2014 planted both feet on the ground, slowly rose up, and stood tall in the medical device industry.<\/p>\n

Why? I\u2019ll give you five reasons:<\/p>\n

1. FDA approval of the da Vinci 5<\/h3>\n
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Intuitive\u2019s da Vinci 5 is the device developer\u2019s fifth-generation system. | Credit: Intuitive Surgical<\/p><\/div>\n

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The approval<\/a> and slow release<\/a> of the next-generation da Vinci 5 reasserted Intuitive Surgical<\/a>\u2019s dominance. It may have also changed the business.<\/p>\n

In our DeviceTalks Weekly interview, Joe Mullings, chair and CEO of The Mullings Group, an executive search firm that has worked extensively in the sector, said competitors building large surgical robotic units will have a difficult time keeping up with the da Vinci 5\u2019s new features<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But the bigger impact may be a smaller footprint and new leasing arrangement that could open up markets in smaller healthcare facilities to Intuitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cRobotic-assisted surgery-as-a-service is what Intuitive is pushing here,\u201d Mullings said.<\/p>\n

The interview is available on DeviceTalks.com<\/a>, a sibling site to The Robot Report<\/em>, or the DeviceTalks YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. The emergence of smaller consoles<\/h3>\n
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CMR Surgical\u2019s Versius surgical robotics system | Credit: CMR Surgical<\/p><\/div>\n

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Intuitive\u2019s move isn\u2019t likely to impede companies that have built \u2014 and are obtaining regulatory approval for \u2014 smaller systems that open up the market for surgical robotic systems.<\/p>\n

On May 2, I\u2019ll talk with the senior executive team at CMR Surgical<\/a> \u2014 CEO Supratim Bose, Chief Medical Officer Mark Slack, and Chief Technology Officer Luke Hares \u2014 about their commercial plans for Versius. The modular and portable robot can be moved from one operating room to another and has been used to perform more than 20,000 surgeries across seven specialties.<\/p>\n

Co-founders Slack and Hares \u201ccreated a system that could be adapted to any operating room,\u201d Bose told MassDevice<\/em>. \u201cThe hospitals, in terms of resources and investments overall for the life of this system, find Versius more of a value to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Virtual Incision<\/a> grabbed national headlines by sending a version of its MIRA mobile surgical robotic system to the International Space Station. The publicity surrounding this news<\/a> focused attention on the company\u2019s true goal of making every operating room a surgical robotic suite.<\/p>\n

In a DeviceTalks Weekly interview<\/a>, CEO John Murphy said Virtual Incision\u2019s robotic arm, which is fastened to the surgical table and doesn\u2019t require a base console like other systems, will make robotics possible for integrated delivery networks (IDNs) and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) that can\u2019t currently afford or accommodate a standard surgical robot.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Distalmotion<\/a> is poised for success with its Dexter robot, which doesn\u2019t require a dedicated room and has disposable instruments that don\u2019t require sterilization after use. CEO Greg Roche, who will speak at DeviceTalks Boston, said the smaller system puts the company in a position to go where patients are seeking care.<\/p>\n

3. The drive for remote connection<\/h3>\n

Virtual Incision\u2019s space excursion aside, surgical robotics companies recognize the importance of remote connection. At DeviceTalks Boston, we\u2019ll have presentations from Intuitive and Medtronic<\/a> focusing on the long-distance reach of their systems.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019re also seeing the emergence of an infrastructure built to support remote surgery. To some, 5G presents the conduit for steady connection. But serial entrepreneur Yulun Wang, who could be described as the founder of the surgical robotics sector, co-founded Sovato Health<\/a> to develop a different network employing existing infrastructure of fiber-optic cables.<\/p>\n

Wang has a knack for getting ahead of trends. He founded Computer Motion in 1990, five years before the launch of Intuitive. The companies would merge 13 years later as a resolution of a patent dispute, freeing Wang to co-found telehealth company nTouch, which was acquired by Teladoc in 2020.<\/p>\n

Wang and Sovato co-founder and CEO Cynthia Perazzo said patients are comfortable with remote care, thanks in part to the pandemic. Regulators and hospitals also see the need for surgeons to extend their reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cA third of U.S. counties don\u2019t have a single surgeon,\u201d Perazzo said in a recent DeviceTalks Weekly interview.<\/p>\n

On the technical side, Sovato execs said the current telecommunication network can handle the traffic. Wang recalled that the world\u2019s first transatlantic surgery performed on a Computer Motion system in 2000 ran on an ATM line monitored by 15 engineers. Today, fiber-optic cables are plentiful.<\/p>\n

Finally, robotic surgery companies are building systems that can be controlled remotely. In a DeviceTalks Boston keynote, Brian Miller, executive vice president and chief digital officer at Intuitive Surgical, will cover many of da Vinci\u2019s 5\u2019s new features, including its potential for remote surgery.<\/p>\n

At the close of the conference, Rajit Kamal<\/a>, vice president and general manager of surgical robotics at Medtronic, will demonstrate the remote functionality of Hugo RAS in a joint keynote for attendees of DeviceTalks Boston and the co-located Robotics Summit & Expo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"SITELearn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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4. The power of AI<\/h3>\n

The ongoing adoption of artificial intelligence will certainly accelerate the development of robot-assisted surgery. AI already has made a massive impact on the medical device industry.<\/p>\n

Semiconductor chip giant NVIDIA<\/a> added a tanker of gasoline to that fire at its 2024 GPU Technology Conference (GTC<\/a>), launching close to two dozen new AI-powered, healthcare-focused tools<\/a> and announcing partnerships with GE Healthcare<\/a> and Johnson & Johnson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NVIDIA already had been working with Asensus Surgical<\/a> and Medtronic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Intuitive\u2019s Miller and Medtronic\u2019s Kamal both intend to cover AI-powered functionality in their DeviceTalks Boston talks.<\/p>\n

5. Experienced competition emerging<\/h3>\n
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Quantum Surgical\u2019s Epione system. | Credit: Quantum Surgical<\/p><\/div>\n

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The surgical robotics sector has been around enough to produce executives who have enjoyed successful outcomes. Now they\u2019re back for more.<\/p>\n

Former leaders from Auris Surgical Robotics<\/a>, for example, are leading startups like Moon Surgical<\/a> and Noah Medical<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before becoming Distalmotion\u2019s CEO, Roche served as global president for robotics and technology at Zimmer Biomet<\/a>, where he led the successful global launch of the ROSA Robotic Knee System.<\/p>\n

Quantum Surgical<\/a> CEO Bertin Nahum led an earlier part of the ROSA story. Nahum founded one of the first successful surgical robotics companies, Medtech S.A., which was sold<\/a> to Zimmer Biomet in 2016.<\/p>\n

Nahum will speak at DeviceTalks Boston about Quantum\u2019s Epione system, an open robotic system that brings image-guided precision to minimally invasive cancer ablation.<\/p>\n

Finally, Stryker<\/a>, one of the more experienced players in surgical robotics and the leader in hard-tissue systems, could be considering a move into soft-tissue robotics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe we are a great robotics organization,\u201d said Spencer Stiles, group president for orthopedics and spine at Stryker, in an upcoming DeviceTalks podcast. \u201cWe remain a passionate M&A company. And so you can imagine our adjacencies, that\u2019s an area that we continue to assess. There\u2019s some neat technology out there for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erik Todd, vice president and general manager of robotics and enabling technology at Stryker, will give an update on the MAKO System at DeviceTalks Boston.<\/p>\n

So this is why we focused so much of DeviceTalks Boston<\/a> on surgical robotics, but even I\u2019m surprised at the pace at which the space is moving<\/p>\n

If you had asked me in January, I\u2019m not sure I would have said we\u2019d see a new da Vinci approved by the FDA, a surgical robotics system launched into space, and a mid-tier player like Karl Storz looking to change the game<\/a> by buying a small, but tested, surgical robotics company like Asensus Surgical<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is 2024. Almost anything can happen. Join us at DeviceTalks Boston to find out what\u2019s next<\/a>.<\/p>\n