Medtronic stated that the expansion of its office in London is going to create the largest global digital center of the company that’s related to AI and robotics in surgery.
It is well to be noted that this effort happens to build on the local partnerships when it comes to research and design pertaining to robotic surgical instruments capacities. The expansion happens to double the size of the office, to almost 25,000 square feet, and also the London workforce, to over 200 people.
Apparently, the Medtronic Centre of Digital Excellence goes on to develop specialized computing as well as software for hospital operating rooms and has also gone ahead and launched hundreds of AI algorithms so as to help the surgeons to access analytics post performing surgery, said the company. Interestingly, a mock robotic operating theater helps with testing of new technologies on the site.
The digital technology goes on to support the surgical teams in planning and learning, as well as collaboration with certain other experts by way of a secure livestream. Capabilities in development happen to include the AI-powered decision support when it comes to surgeons while they work with them in real time.
It is worth noting that Medtronic sells its Hugo soft tissue robotic system in over 30 countries, which includes the likes of the U.K., and also anticipates that the robots will enter the U.S. market as well in the latter half of the current financial year, which ends in April 2026.
FDA grants the breakthrough designation to the Virtuoso robot
Virtuoso Surgical, apparently, said on September 22 that its robotic system has gone on to receive the breakthrough device designation from the FDA when it comes to bladder lesion removal by way of an en bloc resection.
Interestingly, the technique goes on to remove the specimen intact, therefore raising the precision in terms of cancer staging and resulting in a much more definitive diagnosis as compared to standard bladder tumor resection, said the company.
The en bloc resection performed in a manual way has been shown to lessen the cancer recurrence, as per Virtuoso; however, the method is intricate for surgeons to learn as well as execute. The company remarked that its robotic system looks forward to enabling a wider adoption of en bloc resection through facilitating the approach.
By way of making use of needle-sized robotic arms, the Virtuoso system happens to be designed to enhance the dexterity and accuracy of the surgeons when it comes to performing certain challenging procedures. The company opined that its manipulators are indeed smaller as compared to certain other robotic surgical instruments, allowing the surgeon to fit tools in previously unreachable body areas.
The breakthrough device program by the FDA goes on to prioritize the review of manufacturer submissions and happens to be intended to speed up the development and evaluation as well as review when it comes to authorization.
Apparently, it was in May 2025 that Virtuoso remarked that its system was made use of to perform the bladder lesion excision on six patients for the pilot phase at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in terms of the Viable trial.
