Dive Brief:
- Medtronic, the world’s largest stand-alone medical device firm, is developing a surgical robot expected to launch in 2019 and generate "material revenue," Bryan Hanson, who heads the company's minimally invasive therapies group, told Reuters.
- The company's new robot will directly compete with the da Vinci system (Intuitive Surgical) - the only robot currently performing abdominal surgery - but future competition is expected from a Johnson & Johnson startup, Verb Surgical, and Alphabet's Google, which is also developing a robot.
- News of Medtronic's robot raised the stock slightly, according to The Street.
Dive Insight:
Robotic surgery, where the surgeon guides the robot's "hands," is able to make smaller incisions than humans and has become popular for procedures such as hysterectomies and prostate removals. The smaller incisions enable faster recovery, fewer infections, and smaller scars.The company said it planned to lower the costs associated with robotic surgery with their new system.
Medtronic is also developing hip and knee replacements for hospitals adjusting to new Medicare bundled payment programs through its recently acquired Responsive Orthopedics, which will manufacture the devices, Reuters reports.
In addition, it plans to apply for FDA approval of the first "hybrid closed loop" insulin pump that adjusts insulin delivery in the event of high glucose readings and suspends it when glucose levels are low.
A study in 2015 that examined 14 years of FDA data found that surgical robot use is linked to at least 144 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries in the U.S. from a total of 1.7 million robotic procedures performed between 2000 and 2013. Events ranged from burnt tissue from electrical sparks to system errors making surgery take much longer than planned.
The authors concluded that new safety measures were needed. "Adoption of advanced techniques in design and operation of robotic surgical systems may reduce these preventable incidents in the future," the study stated.
Robotic surgery costs an average of $3500 more than a laparoscopic procedure and the da Vinci system costs about $2 million, according to Healthline.