ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Memic Innovative Surgery recently won FDA de novo authorization for its Hominis robot-assisted surgical system, a low-cost, portable surgical robot with “humanoid arms” that is designed to make less-invasive, natural orifice procedures much easier and more accessible.
The surgical robotics market has historically been dominated by one player: Intuitive Surgical Inc. with its massive, and massively expensive, daVinci general surgery robotics system. But the field is on the verge of a major upheaval following the entrance of dozens of new players and innovative technologies over the past several years.
The list of current and future competitors now includes medtech giants such as Medtronic plc and Johnson & Johnson (via J&J’s Verb Surgical Inc. healthcare joint venture with Google), along with Stryker Corp. (through its acquisition of Mako Surgical) and nearly every other large orthopedics device company vying for a stake in the growing robotic-assisted arthroplasty market, as well as a growing number of small start-ups targeting specific clinical specialties with inventive new solutions. All are hoping to capitalize on the coming digital surgery wave by leveraging a growing platform of connected, high-tech tools—from robots to data analytics—with the promise of helping to democratize care, improve patient outcomes, and lower overall costs.
