A Steady Surgeon

Surgical robots controlled remotely by medics have been operating for nearly a quarter century. But in April, the Symani surgical system, which uses wristed robotic arms with seven degrees of flexibility, became the first FDA-approved robot for microsurgery. “The human body tremors when you do work, and [this tech] dampens the tremor,” says Mark Toland, CEO of MMI. In Europe, Symani has completed nearly 1,000 surgeries across 17 different procedures. Up next: MMI is working on an AI-powered version to do common elements of operations, like tying up arteries post-procedure.