5 Things to watch for in surgical robotics in the next 12 months

Things are moving faster than you think. There is a massive acceleration in technology and this will impact surgical robotics - interventional robotics in cardiac, neurovascular and open robotics systems.

In today's short blog I discuss 5 things to watch for in the next 12 months that will impact the world of healthcare robotics in the near future.

1 AI assistance - AI Agents

Large language models, and advanced visual models are improving by the day. New real world physics AI models for training are being released by Nvidia along side their local edge computing architecture of Holoscan Bridge.

This all combines to allow real time assistance through AI at the device - at the patient.

Add to that the advent of AI agents that can do "software agency" to get information from say Electronic Health Records. But now also Physical world AI agents that can do things with the robots in real time on behalf of users - such as setups, and assistance.

2 A focus on robot add ons

Investing in multi billion dollar robots for minimal access surgery is done for the next five years. The platforms that are on the market or coming to market are this generation's architectures. The investment community will now look for the add on apps, add on vision systems and add on end effectors - (Widgets) to differentiate the systems.

The appetite will be around what tuck in technologies can be developed that can hang on the robots. New energy, new tissue sealing, new instrument ends. And new apps and software (on or off system) that will bring additional functionality and features to the systems.

Want to build a company? Build an add on that one of the companies can license or buy.

3 Real time histological analysis

Watch this space. Being able to see cancer and cancer margins in real time - in situ is a new capability that will differntiate systems. Look for emerging tech starting in colonoscopy and colonoscopy robots. This capability will come to the main frame robots - either by a stand alone in OR tissue analysis system (lots coming) that do rapid histology in the OR. Or even better some of the emerging technologies will show clinical capability. Such as - Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (CLE), Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), Fluorescence Imaging & Molecular Probes, Raman Spectroscopy, Multiphoton Microscopy (MPM), AI-Enhanced Digital Pathology & Intraoperative Scanning, Photoacoustic Imaging... and more exciting technologies. Robots that integrate these technologies will have the edge.

The ability in real time to either detect, or show tumour boundaries will be a critical add on - especially for Autonomy of the future.

4 Robotic Autonomy

Already here with multiple non soft tissue systems - dental with Lupin, phlebology with Vitestro, Urology with Andromeda Surgery. The march is coming.

We will see add on "manoeuvres" this year with automations of set up, positioning, instrument exchanges (Sony style) and more.

This is the slow and steady march to autonomy. Autonomy in endolumenal robotics may come first - guidance, self centring, positioning, and gaining access along navigation pathways.

Then we will see autonomous assistance in laparoscopy - needle handling, knot tying and more will move from pure bench top research to pre clinical work - ready to be added to systems.

5 Workflow optimisation

The battle will no longer be just the hardware. This is going to be about system optimisation and patient workflow efficiency. Scheduling - patient management - OR turn around. Robots will start to have wider ecosystems that will help manage the case loads. Add on AI based data systems will do more and more of predicting case starts and finishes, deciding which patient should be operated in which order in which OR to maximise efficiency.

Perioperative work flow will start to come in with assistive step recommendations and more.

The robots will no longer just be about the robot. But we will see the continued development of ecosystems and systems that will unlock the value of using smart "computers" that sit in the middle of the entire clinical workflow. The robots will become more than a glorified scalpel - they will become a tool for planning, operating and organising.

This is just 5 of many more trends... I'll post more in the near future.

These are just future gazing views of the author for educational purposes only