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Intuitive Surgical’s New Robot Continues to BedazzleIntuitive Surgical’s New Robot Continues to Bedazzle
While still early in the launch, the new Dv5 surgical robot is living up to its hype.
Amanda Pedersen
July 23, 2024
5 Min Read
FDA cleared Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci 5 robotic surgery system in March 2024.Image courtesy of Intuitive Surgical
Intuitive Surgical's management team did its best to manage expectations for the continued da Vinci 5 (Dv5) momentum, but the company's newest surgical robot appears to be living up to the hype.
Intuitive placed 70 da Vinci 5 systems in the second quarter as the company moved into the next phase of its rollout for the new robotic surgical system. This represents about 47% of total U.S. system placements for the quarter.
"As the launch continues to progress in line with our plans, customer feedback points to improvements in precision, imaging, ergonomics and integration, the combination of which customers indicate has led to overall efficiency improvements," Dave Rosa, the company's president, said during an earnings call last week.
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The da Vinci 5 system features a redesigned console capable of customizable positioning, allowing surgeons to find their best fit for surgical viewing and comfort, including the ability to sit completely upright. The surgeon can make any necessary adjustments while their head is in the console, with options designed to fit different body types, including surgeons who are pregnant. Image courtesy of Intuitive Surgical
Intuitive designed the Dv5 with 150 enhancements over its previous multiport system. These enhancements include:
The enhancements, according to the company, include:
Improved accuracy and precision: da Vinci 5 is designed with new surgeon controllers and powerful vibration and tremor controls, making it the smoothest and most precise system Intuitive has developed to date.
Next-generation 3D display and image processing: da Vinci 5 is equipped with Intuitive’s highest quality and most natural 3D imaging system, enabling surgeons to see more today and supporting future generations of surgical endoscopes and vision software as those technologies evolve.
Force-sensing technology: Intuitive said its da Vinci 5 introduces Force Feedback technology and optional instruments designed to enable the system to measure, and surgeons to feel, subtle forces exerted on tissue during surgery. In preclinical trials with surgeons at all experience levels, Force Feedback demonstrated up to 43% less force exerted on tissue, which may translate to less trauma on tissue. The company noted that the ability to measure this force adds an important new data stream to surgical data science, which can bring future analytical insights supported by artificial intelligence. These optional Force Feedback instruments are cleared for use in the same procedures as da Vinci Xi, except pediatric and cardiac procedures, and there is a specific contraindication for the Force Feedback needle driver for use in suturing during hysterectomy and myomectomy procedures.
Throughput and workflow enhancements: da Vinci 5 has features designed to help increase surgeon autonomy and streamline surgeon and care team workflow. For example, da Vinci 5 has integrated key OR technologies, including insufflation and an electrosurgical unit. The system also includes an optimized user interface, with settings that are accessible by the broader surgical team and by the surgeon directly from the head-in menu. Surgeons have access to other key settings while head-in to help them stay focused on the surgical field. All of this, theoretically, translates into faster procedure times.
Expanded computing power and advanced data capabilities: The new multiport system has more than 10,000 times the computing power of da Vinci Xi (Intuitive's fourth-generation system). This enables new system capabilities and advanced digital experiences, now and in the future, including integration with Intuitive’s My Intuitive app, SimNow (a virtual reality simulator), Case Insights (a computational observer), and Intuitive Hub (edge computing system).
Greater surgeon comfort: The da Vinci 5 system features a redesigned console capable of customizable positioning, allowing surgeons to find their best fit for surgical viewing and comfort, including the ability to sit completely upright. The surgeon can make any necessary adjustments while their head is in the console, with options designed to fit different body types, including surgeons who are pregnant.
"Both Force Feedback and Case Insights bring new capabilities and analytics to surgery. We are encouraged by early insights these capabilities are presenting and are working hard to improve production and supply for Force Feedback instruments and smooth our computational pipelines and workflows for Case Insights," Rosa said. "We expect these capabilities to be powerful and the maturity and evidence of impact to build over coming quarters."
The company continues to be in a measured rollout phase for the Dv5 launch and continues to monitor several key metrics across this rollout phase. Rosa also mentioned ramping supply and responding to customer input.
"We expect our measured rollout to continue through the first half of 2025," Rosa said.
CFO Jamie Samath reiterated later in the call that da Vinci 5 placements will be constrained through the first half of 2025. He cited a planned hardware and software update to Dv5 in the second half of this year, along with a continued focus on maturing, manufacturing, and expanding capacity.
Intuitive hired about 550 employees during the second quarter, and Samath said about half of these new hires are in manufacturing operations to support growth in customer demand.
"With respect to how we've organized the measured rollout of Dv5, we've really focused the sales force on looking to place da Vinci 5 for incremental capacity for our customers versus the trading cycle," Samath said. "I think we'd rather get to a broad launch where we essentially have unconstrained supply relative to demand before we look at the trade-in cycle."
Despite management's comments about placements of the new surgical robotics system being constrained through the first half of 2025, analyst enthusiasm for the new system remains high.
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