Intuitive Secures CE Mark for Force Feedback Instruments and Unveils 100+ da Vinci 5 Enhancements Across Europe

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Intuitive, a global technology leader in minimally invasive care and the pioneer of robotic-assisted surgery, today announced the CE mark approval of Force Feedback instruments for its da Vinci 5 surgical system, as well as a series of new system enhancements to be rolled out across Europe.

Force Feedback technology is designed to enhance intra-operative awareness of the force exerted on tissue during surgery, by enabling surgeons to feel push and pull forces through their da Vinci 5 console hand controls and measure these forces through a real time force indicator.

Alongside Force Feedback instruments, Intuitive is introducing more than 100 updates and user experience enhancements for da Vinci 5 users in Europe. Powered by da Vinci 5's advanced computing architecture, which provides 10,000 times greater computing power than da Vinci Xi, these advancements represent the continued evolution of Intuitive's most advanced surgical system.

"With the introduction of Force Feedback instruments and new capabilities for da Vinci 5 in Europe, we continue to deliver on our vision of a future-ready platform that can evolve with the needs of surgeons, patients and health systems," said Dirk Barten, Intuitive commercial president for Europe.

"Across healthcare systems, our customers are challenged to deliver better patient outcomes, while also lowering the total cost of care, expanding access to care for more patients, and improving patient and care team experience. Through our portfolio of da Vinci systems and integrated Intuitive Ecosystem, shaped by over thirty years of expertise, we're continuing to help them meet those challenges."

First-of-its-kind Force Feedback technology: 

A growing body of real-world evidence shows that Force Feedback and digital technologies potentially enable gentler surgery and improve outcomes across key operative steps for multiple procedures.[2]^{,[3],[4],[5],[6],[7]} 

When using Force Feedback instruments:

• Force Feedback sensors measure push, pull and directional forces in real-time at approximately 1,000 times per second and are felt by the surgeon through the hand controls at the da Vinci 5 console. 
• Da Vinci 5 displays the relative real-time scale of force applied to tissue during surgery through Force Gauge — a speedometer-like visual indicator.
• Surgeons will be able to review their post-operative force metrics through Case Insights in MyIntuitive+ to refine their technique and potentially minimize force variability across cases.

Da Vinci 5 enhancements include: 

• Telepresence: Intuitive Telepresence, a real-time capability that allows remote physicians to observe and provide guidance during procedures, now includes a new camera that expands visibility to the full operating room, a new live cursor and enhanced audio to improve communication.  These enhancements are designed to transform learning and surgeon education to unlock Intuitive’s global network of more than 101,000 da Vinci-trained surgeons.

• Surgeon-initiated tool eject: Surgeons will be able to initiate the removal of instruments or the endoscope directly from the console, supporting greater surgeon autonomy and safer instrument exchanges.

• Multi-arm targeting: By enabling targeting with any number of arms docked, this feature will simplify and reduce time for case setup and allow for streamlined mid-procedure re-targeting when needed, supporting more efficient multi-quadrant surgery.

Da Vinci 5 is the fifth generation da Vinci surgical system and the latest addition to the da Vinci family. This includes multiport systems da Vinci X and da Vinci Xi, and the single-port system da Vinci SP, offering surgeons and hospitals their choice of highly capable, proven solutions from Intuitive.

More than 11,700 da Vinci surgical systems are used in hospitals around the world, and over 21.8 million da Vinci procedures have been performed to date.^[8]

“When we introduced da Vinci 5, we designed it as a platform for continuous innovation, enabling the ongoing integration of new functions, capabilities, indications and instrumentation on a regular cadence,” said Iman Jeddi, PhD, senior vice president and general manager of da Vinci platforms and product operations at Intuitive.

“Surgery generates an extraordinary amount of information. By bringing together data from across the surgical experience, including video, instrument motion, and force feedback, we are building the foundation for the next generation of AI-powered capabilities. We are excited to bring that pace of innovation to surgeons and care teams across Europe.”