Peer-Reviewed Studies on Intuitive’s Force Feedback Technology Demonstrate its Potential to Reduce Force on Tissue and Enhance Surgeon Performance
Intuitive (NASDAQ: ISRG) has published two peer-reviewed studies in Surgical Endoscopy demonstrating the effectiveness of its Force Feedback technology in the da Vinci 5 surgical system. The first study, led by Dr. Michael M. Awad, showed that the technology can reduce force on tissue by up to 43% across all surgeon experience levels.
The second study, led by Dr. Andrew J. Hung, revealed that Force Feedback technology significantly improves novice surgeon performance, reducing tissue trauma and errors during suturing. The research involved 28 surgeons in the first study and 29 novice surgeons in the second study, all conducted in pre-clinical settings using tissue models.
The technology is currently available in U.S. hospitals, with plans for expanded availability through 2025 and beyond.
Intuitive (NASDAQ: ISRG) ha pubblicato due studi peer-reviewed in Surgical Endoscopy che dimostrano l'efficacia della sua tecnologia Force Feedback nel sistema chirurgico da Vinci 5. Il primo studio, condotto dal Dr. Michael M. Awad, ha mostrato che la tecnologia può ridurre la forza sui tessuti fino al 43% a tutti i livelli di esperienza dei chirurghi.
Il secondo studio, guidato dal Dr. Andrew J. Hung, ha rivelato che la tecnologia Force Feedback migliora significativamente le prestazioni dei chirurghi novizi, riducendo il trauma ai tessuti e gli errori durante il suturing. La ricerca ha coinvolto 28 chirurghi nel primo studio e 29 chirurghi novizi nel secondo studio, tutti condotti in ambienti pre-clinici utilizzando modelli di tessuto.
La tecnologia è attualmente disponibile negli ospedali statunitensi, con piani per un'espansione della disponibilità fino al 2025 e oltre.
Intuitive (NASDAQ: ISRG) ha publicado dos estudios revisados por pares en Surgical Endoscopy que demuestran la efectividad de su tecnología Force Feedback en el sistema quirúrgico da Vinci 5. El primer estudio, dirigido por el Dr. Michael M. Awad, mostró que la tecnología puede reducir la fuerza sobre los tejidos hasta en un 43% en todos los niveles de experiencia de los cirujanos.
El segundo estudio, liderado por el Dr. Andrew J. Hung, reveló que la tecnología Force Feedback mejora significativamente el rendimiento de los cirujanos novatos, reduciendo el trauma a los tejidos y los errores durante la sutura. La investigación involucró a 28 cirujanos en el primer estudio y 29 cirujanos novatos en el segundo estudio, todos realizados en entornos preclínicos utilizando modelos de tejido.
La tecnología está actualmente disponible en hospitales de EE. UU., con planes para una mayor disponibilidad hasta 2025 y más allá.
Intuitive (NASDAQ: ISRG)는 다빈치 5 수술 시스템에서 Force Feedback 기술의 효과를 입증한 두 개의 동료 검토 연구를 Surgical Endoscopy에 발표했습니다. 첫 번째 연구는 Michael M. Awad 박사가 이끌었으며, 이 기술이 모든 외과의 경험 수준에서 조직에 가해지는 힘을 최대 43%까지 줄일 수 있다는 것을 보여주었습니다.
두 번째 연구는 Andrew J. Hung 박사가 이끌었으며, Force Feedback 기술이 초보 외과의의 성능을 크게 향상시켜 봉합 중 조직 외상과 오류를 줄인다는 것을 밝혔습니다. 이 연구는 첫 번째 연구에서 28명의 외과의와 두 번째 연구에서 29명의 초보 외과의가 참여했으며, 모두 조직 모델을 사용하여 전임상 환경에서 수행되었습니다.
이 기술은 현재 미국 병원에서 사용 가능하며, 2025년 및 그 이후로 확대될 계획입니다.
Intuitive (NASDAQ: ISRG) a publié deux études évaluées par des pairs dans Surgical Endoscopy démontrant l'efficacité de sa technologie Force Feedback dans le système chirurgical da Vinci 5. La première étude, dirigée par le Dr. Michael M. Awad, a montré que la technologie peut réduire la force sur les tissus jusqu'à 43% à tous les niveaux d'expérience des chirurgiens.
La deuxième étude, dirigée par le Dr. Andrew J. Hung, a révélé que la technologie Force Feedback améliore considérablement la performance des chirurgiens novices, réduisant les traumatismes tissulaires et les erreurs lors de la suture. La recherche a impliqué 28 chirurgiens dans la première étude et 29 chirurgiens novices dans la deuxième étude, toutes réalisées dans des environnements précliniques utilisant des modèles de tissu.
La technologie est actuellement disponible dans les hôpitaux américains, avec des plans pour une disponibilité élargie jusqu'en 2025 et au-delà.
Intuitive (NASDAQ: ISRG) hat zwei von Fachkollegen begutachtete Studien in Surgical Endoscopy veröffentlicht, die die Wirksamkeit seiner Force Feedback-Technologie im da Vinci 5 Chirurgiesystem demonstrieren. Die erste Studie, geleitet von Dr. Michael M. Awad, zeigte, dass die Technologie die Kraft auf Gewebe um bis zu 43% bei allen Erfahrungsstufen der Chirurgen reduzieren kann.
Die zweite Studie, geleitet von Dr. Andrew J. Hung, ergab, dass die Force Feedback-Technologie die Leistung von unerfahrenen Chirurgen erheblich verbessert und Gewebeverletzungen sowie Fehler beim Nähen verringert. Die Forschung umfasste 28 Chirurgen in der ersten Studie und 29 unerfahrene Chirurgen in der zweiten Studie, die alle in vorklinischen Umgebungen mit Gewebemodellen durchgeführt wurden.
Die Technologie ist derzeit in US-Krankenhäusern verfügbar, mit Plänen zur erweiterten Verfügbarkeit bis 2025 und darüber hinaus.
- Force Feedback technology reduces tissue force by up to 43% regardless of surgeon experience
- Technology demonstrates significant improvement in novice surgeon performance
- deployment already started in U.S. hospitals with expansion plans through 2025
- Studies are only pre-clinical, lacking real patient outcome data
- current availability restricts immediate revenue potential
Insights
Intuitive's Force Feedback technology represents a significant technological advancement in robotic surgery that addresses a fundamental limitation of current systems - the lack of tactile feedback. The peer-reviewed validation showing a
This feature creates substantial differentiation in the competitive landscape where tactile feedback has been a persistent challenge. While competitors like Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson are developing robotic platforms, Intuitive has now demonstrated measurable benefits with a technology already deployed in the market, albeit in settings.
The technology's ability to benefit surgeons across all experience levels is particularly notable from a market expansion perspective. By potentially flattening the learning curve for novice surgeons while enhancing precision for experienced ones, Intuitive could accelerate adoption in teaching hospitals and expand into procedures previously considered too delicate for robotic approaches.
The gradual rollout through 2025 suggests that while immediate revenue impact will be modest, this represents a long-term value driver that reinforces Intuitive's premium positioning. For existing customers, this could accelerate the upgrade cycle to da Vinci 5 systems, while for prospective customers, it removes a significant objection to robotic surgery adoption.
These studies address a critical gap in robotic surgery by quantifying and potentially mitigating the forces applied to tissue during procedures. The
Most compelling is how Force Feedback improved suturing outcomes for novice surgeons. Suturing represents one of the most technically demanding aspects of robotic surgery, requiring precise tension control. Improvements here could reduce procedure time, decrease complications from suture breakage or tissue tearing, and potentially expand the types of reconstructive procedures suitable for robotic approaches.
While these are pre-clinical studies using tissue models rather than human trials, the methodology appears robust with appropriate sample sizes (28 and 29 surgeons respectively) and clear endpoints. The involvement of respected institutions like Washington University and Cedars-Sinai adds further credibility.
The technology's universal benefit across experience levels suggests it addresses an intrinsic limitation in robotic surgery rather than just compensating for skill deficiencies. For hospital administrators evaluating robotic system investments, this technology could strengthen the value proposition by potentially reducing complications, improving outcomes, and broadening the surgeon pool capable of performing complex procedures effectively.
SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intuitive (NASDAQ: ISRG), a global leader in minimally invasive care and the pioneer of robotic-assisted surgery, announced the publication of two peer-reviewed studies in Surgical Endoscopy, on its first-of-its-kind Force Feedback technology incorporated in the da Vinci 5 surgical system.
Force Feedback technology allows surgeons to feel the forces applied to tissue during surgery, such as pushing and pulling. These studies - conducted in the pre-clinical setting using tissue models - demonstrate its potential to reduce the amount of force placed on tissue during surgery and enhance surgeon performance.
The first study, led by a team including Michael M. Awad MD, PhD, Professor of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, showed that using Force Feedback technology can lead to a reduction in force on tissue by up to 43 percent, irrespective of the surgeon’s experience level. The study evaluated the forces applied to surgical models by 28 surgeons who had varying levels of experience when using Force Feedback technology during retraction, dissection, and suturing tasks.
“The lack of a way to measure the forces applied to tissue may result in excessive force exerted, leading to unintentional tissue damage during surgery, which could have a negative clinical impact on patients including pain and recovery time,” said Dr. Awad.
“Our findings suggest that Force Feedback technology using the da Vinci 5 system could enable gentler robotic surgery. While there's more to learn about how this technology might translate to clinical outcomes, it's a strong step toward improvement in robotic procedures.”
During robotic-assisted surgery, surgeons operate instruments through the da Vinci surgeon console and rely on visual cues to determine the force they are applying to tissue. Even during open surgery, where surgeons have access to their sense of touch, they still have no way of measuring the amount of force applied to tissue during the procedure.
The second study, led by a team including Andrew J. Hung, MD, Associate Professor of Urology and Computational Biomedicine, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles, showed that Force Feedback technology has the potential to improve novice surgeon performance by significantly reducing tissue trauma and errors during suturing, and time to complete suturing.
“Suturing can be a unique challenge during robotic surgery because excessive force can break delicate sutures or injure healthy tissue, while insufficient forces might cause slippage or loose sutures,” said Dr. Hung. “Force Feedback could enhance the performance of surgeons and their suturing proficiency during robotic surgery. Now that we have seen how Force Feedback has enabled novice surgeons in the pre-clinical setting, we look forward to better understanding the impact on surgical performance and potential patient benefits.”
The study evaluated the impact of Force Feedback technology on the suturing performance of 29 novice surgeons in a randomized pre-clinical study.
“These studies show early, pre-clinical and compelling evidence of the potential impact of Force Feedback technology across all surgeon experience levels,” said Intuitive Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Myriam Curet.
Force Feedback technology is currently in use by a limited number of hospitals in the United States. Intuitive continues to study its use with customers and grow availability through 2025 and beyond.
Links and citations to both articles can be found below.
Evaluation of forces applied to tissues during robotic-assisted surgical tasks using a novel force feedback technology
Awad MM, Raynor MC, Padmanabhan-Kabana M, Schumacher LY, Blatnik JA. Evaluation of forces applied to tissues during robotic-assisted surgical tasks using a novel force feedback technology. Surg Endosc 38, 6193–6202 (2024). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00464-024-11131-z
Novel force feedback technology improves suturing in robotic-assisted surgery: a pre-clinical study
Servais EL, Rashidi L, Porwal P, Garibaldi M, Hung AJ. Novel force feedback technology improves suturing in robotic-assisted surgery: a pre-clinical study. Surg Endosc. 2025;39(2):1217-1226. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00464-024-11472-9
About Intuitive
Intuitive (NASDAQ:ISRG), headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, is a global leader in minimally invasive care and the pioneer of robotic surgery. Our technologies include the da Vinci surgical system and the Ion endoluminal system. By uniting advanced systems, progressive learning, and value-enhancing services, we help physicians and their teams optimize care delivery to support the best outcomes possible. At Intuitive, we envision a future of care that is less invasive and profoundly better, where disease is identified early and treated quickly, so that patients can get back to what matters most.
About da Vinci Surgical Systems
There are several models of the da Vinci Surgical System. The da Vinci surgical systems are designed to help surgeons perform minimally invasive surgery and offer surgeons high-definition 3D vision, a magnified view, and robotic and computer assistance. They use specialized instrumentation, including a miniaturized surgical camera and wristed instruments (i.e., scissors, scalpels, and forceps) that are designed to help with precise dissection and reconstruction deep inside the body.
For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.intuitive.com.
Important Safety Information
For product intended use and/or indications for use, risks, cautions, and warnings and full prescribing information, visit https://manuals.intuitivesurgical.com/market. For summary of the risks associated with surgery refer to www.intuitive.com/safety.
Forward-Looking Statements
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Contact Information Megan Elliott, Intuitive +1 669-222-9899 megan.elliott@intusurg.com
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