The outlook for complex robotic surgery

Zimmer’s decision to restructure will create a new competitor in robotic surgery. While Zimmer's move concerns orthopaedic procedures, it is also worth looking at the market for the larger, more complex general surgery robots. This too will see big changes in the coming year, with Medtronic’s modular Hugo system expected to make its market debut. Two companies, CMR Surgical and Avatera Medical, sell their machines in Europe but not yet in the US, though CMR’s Versius could make the leap this year. Johnson & Johnson’s Ottava, announced with much fanfare in November, remains some way behind the competition. So far, however, only two companies contest the US market: Intuitive Surgical, whose 2020 revenues topped $2.4bn, and Transenterix, which is to report its 2020 sales in the coming weeks and might, if it’s lucky, make $2.4m.