Multiport Surgical Robot Gets FDA Approval

Medical robotics company Intuitive has secured approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its multiport surgical robot, the da Vinci 5.

The latest model builds on Intuitive’s previous interaction, the da Vinci Xi, which has been used in more than seven million procedures worldwide.

Gary Guthart, Intuitive’s CEO, said the new model will deliver on Intuitive’s goals of using robotics to “enable better patient outcomes, enhance the patient and care team experiences and ultimately lower the total cost of care.”

“After more than a decade of careful research, design, development, and testing, we believe da Vinci 5 will deliver on these goals and help drive the future of robotic-assisted surgery,” Guthart said.

The new system has more than 150 enhancements, including new surgeon controllers, vibration and tremor controls, next-generation 3D display and image processing, and force-sensing technology, which allows surgeons to feel even subtle forces exerted on tissue during surgery.

Da Vinci 5 also has more than 10,000 times the computing power of da Vinci Xi, enabling integration with Intuitive’s My Intuitive app, SimNow (virtual reality simulator), Case Insights (computational observer), and Intuitive Hub (edge computing system).

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The new model will initially be available to a small number of U.S. customers who collaborated with Intuitive during the development period, as well as those with “mature robotic surgery programs.

Intuitive will gather data from these initial applications to further develop the system before its wider commercial deployment. 

“We strive to provide customers with technology that meets their needs and solves important problems,” said Myriam J. Curet, Intuitive’s Chief Medical Officer. “We intend to launch da Vinci 5 more broadly in the U.S. and globally after we learn from and work with an initial smaller number of customers directly.”