The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is taking aim at the shortage of medical services with a program designed to foster development of micro-robots, or microbots, which will autonomously conduct part or all of a variety of surgical procedures.

The U.S. FDA granted 510(k) clearance to Distalmotion SA's Dexter, its surgical robotic system, for use in cholecystectomy in adults. The greenlight from the regulatory body is the second nod Dexter has received following de novo clearance granted in 2024 for use in inguinal hernia repair.

The U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) gave the nod to a total of 11 robotic surgical systems for use in the U.K.’s trusts, but this is no free pass as the agency expects the manufacturers of these systems to gather data under this conditional coverage framework.

Johnson & Johnson received U.S. FDA investigational device exemption to begin the pivotal clinical trial for the Ottava robotic surgical system. If the trial goes well, Ottava could pose a significant challenge to decades-long dominance of the robotic surgical market by Intuitive Surgical Inc.’s Da Vinci system.

Broncus Holding Corp. subsidiary Broncus Hangzhou is acquiring Chinese medical device company Hangzhou Jingliang in the form of an equity transfer agreement for ¥5.4 million (US$758,000). The move will strengthen Broncus’ R&D capabilities in the flexible robotic space and will allow the company to offer pulmonology diagnostics and therapeutic solutions covering the complete product life cycle.

Johnson & Johnson expects to submit the long-awaited Ottava robotic surgical system to the U.S. FDA for an investigational device exemption (IDE) in the second half of 2024, nearly three years later than the company anticipated when its Ethicon Inc. unit acquired Ottava along with Auris Health Inc. in 2019.

Beijing Tinavi Medical Technologies Co. Ltd.’s surgical robot received approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for total knee replacement, expanding its product portfolio to cover spine, trauma and joints in orthopedic surgery. The new product, named Tirobot Recon, provides support for surgeons in total knee arthroplasty.

Moon Surgical SAS secured a new $55.4 million round of financing to strengthen the development and commercialization of its Maestro robotic system for laparoscopic surgery.

Meio Medical Inc.’s Titian, a surgical robot for navigation in cardiac electrophysiology, has been included in a Green Pathway for approval of medical devices in China, meaning it could get to market faster. Inclusion in the Green Pathway gives the medical device priority for reviewing and shortens the average registration time. Currently, Meio Medical is running a trial of Titian in multiple hospitals in China.

Beijing Surgerii Technology Co. Ltd. completed a series C3 round to support the development of its robotic system for single-port laparoscopic surgery.