Medical Mechatronics

Sales of da Vinci Robots Shows More Than Rising Stock

Despite the rise and fall of Intuitive Surgical, Inc.’s stock over the past week, it’s probably safe to say, one thing is for sure: robotic-assisted surgery is on the rise.

In case you missed it, last week, Intuitive Surgical, Inc. the maker of the da Vinci Surgical System, a unit of robotic equipment and tools that is best known for its use in treating prostate cancer reported second quarter revenue of $219.2 million–a whopping increase of 56 percent from the $140.2 million for the second quarter this same time last year.

The da Vinci is well-known for its precision and ability to assist doctors in operating on some of the smallest, most confined spaces which make traditional surgery difficult. It’s touted by the medical community and patients for resulting in shorter hospital stays, less pain and scarring, less risk of wound infections, less blood loss and fewer transfusions and for a faster recovery.

According to the Sunnyvale, CA company, this growth was driven by more doctors, hospitals and patients adopting robotic procedures and strong sales of the da Vinci Surgical System. In a downturn economy, that’s extraordinarily good news. Especially considering that one da Vinci Surgical System goes for over $1 million, plus the hospital shells out another $135,000 a year for additional support.

The day after the Intuitive Surgical, Inc.(Nasdaq: ISRG ), reported its earnings last week, shares rose to almost $50.

Then on Monday, Barron’s came out with a cover story “Robot Dreams,” in which Senior Editor Bill Alpert wrote a comprehensive article about his own prostate surgery with the da Vinci surgical system (which was a positive experience, he notes). The story predicts that Intuitive Surgical, Inc., has reached almost near saturation and claiming the hot growth stock, may not be a stable one. He argues that the company’s steep valuation may leave investors out to dry.

“At 322 each, the shares now go for more than 75 times trailing 12-month earnings, giving Intuitive one of the handsomest multiples in the Standard & Poor’s 500,” Alpert writes. “But Intuitive’s volatile and pricey shares also bespeak the desperation of investors mobbing a quality growth story in a lousy economy and stock market. That momentum mob seems heedless of how suddenly this expensive stock could become a victim of the robot’s success.”

Intuitive claims that it has lots more growth to occur, domestically and internationally. They say 40 percent of the country’s largest hospitals (those with over 325 beds) already have at least one da Vinci robot. According to Barron’s when Intuitive finishes placing its robots in hosptials, it will see a decline in sales of the system. Intuitive expects the largest hospitals will house 3 systems each. Critics think that number is not realistic and too high.

According to the article Jose J. Haresco, an analyst at Merriman Curhan Ford in San Francisco, “thinks there’s room for about 1,800 da Vinci robots in the U.S. and 600 more abroad. Intuitive’s dream of three robots in every big hospital isn’t yet supported by the evidence.”
After the Barron’s article ran on Monday, Intuitive’s stock dropped 2.3 percent.

But while financial analysts debate whether robotic surgical systems are already hitting saturation levels and whether the stock growth is justifiably hot, I have a sneaking suspicion that the mechatronic engineers who helped in the advent of this innovative medical device are sitting quietly somewhere excited–and some folks over at Intuitive’s headquarters too. Because while the worth of something like this matters, the real data this tells doctors and engineers is that minimally invasive robotic-surgery, assisted or otherwise, is here. No longer is it in the far off future, or on TV or in movies. It’s here and the public wants it.

This is big news in medical mechatronics and the whole medical community. It’s big news for biomedical engineers and doctors who have worked hard on designing and testing robotic medical devices such as theda Vinci.

More over, since robotic-assisted, essentially this success sends strong messages that medical robotics will bring doctors, hospitals and patients into a whole new realm– a whole new way of looking at surgery, resulting in even more success.

I think there is far more to come from Intuitive and from other design engineers and medical doctors who design such medical robotic systems. But who is to say doctors aren’t discovering a new use for this system, who is to say engineers aren’t designing another new device? With every new medical discovery and every difficult operation, medical experts and engineers will come together and find an appropriate use for the such devices. I think only time will tell. But I think this is just the beginning of something very big, not the end.

Medical Engineering

Two weeks ago I attended the 2008 Mechatronics Expo in Santa Clara with the Design News gang.  Of course, we talked all things mechatronics, but while many speakers spoke about the traditional areas of automotive and aerospace, a few passing comments were made about the emergence of medical mechatronics, specifically nano-scale materials and MEMS  (Micro Electric-Mechanical Systems) being used to engineer medical devices and apparatuses.

Dr. Tai-Ran Hsu, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at San Jose State University  (feel free to check out my recent interview with Dr. Hsu) has been studying Mechatronics for years, and is an expert in nano-scale technologies and microsystems.

While some are still trying to get a handle on what Mechatronics is, Dr. Hsu has been studying Mechatronics for sometime now and is most currently working in MEMS and nano-scale engineering design and packaging. One area he highlighted as up and coming is the medical industry.  It made me think about how much we’ve advanced in medical device manufacturing and engineering–it is truly amazing.

Dr. Hsu wasn’t the only one to mention the medical industry as an application of mechatronics, both Dr. Ramesh Varahamurti, program coordinator of Mechatronics at Chio State in Chico, CA, and even Director of Development at Yaskawa, Ed Nicolson who spoke about servo motors made note of mechatronics being used for medical technology.

Moreover medical engineering is a complete mechatronic process.  In  its a total interdisciplinary approach, you have to work together with biologists, medical doctors, patients, design engineers, manufacturers, technicicans. Virtual environements and PLM systems are neccessary.  

It’s not like the pacemaker is new, or the defribulator, but like the silos of engineering, as a society we are not looking at medical engineering as a whole. We are not giving enough attention to the medical engineering community and in many cases are using nanotechnology and small chip mirco systems, the stuff micromechatronics is made of.

Keynote speaker, Dr. Geoffrey Orsak, Dean of Engineering at SMU,  spoke about the need for engineers in global issues. He posed some pretty interesting questions about the role of engineering.and the role of the engineer in the large scope of the world. He asked for the engineers to think about how an engineer can better the world.

His last remark was "Design Like you give a Damn."

For me that line called out the importance of engineering–that engineers can make this world go ’round. That engineers can and do matter.

If humanity is part of global issues, than I think engineers and technicians who design, manufacuter, assemble, fix medical marvels are just as important as those doctors who implant these devices.

It made me realize that medical decive advancements are some of the most innovative science and engineering technology out there that actual humans are using.  These devices are not just restricted for DARPA, NASA or the military. They are out for commercial use.  Makes me think, that maybe the United States isn’t so far behind in engineering and science afterall,  but that’s for next time.

Mechatronic da Vinci Robot Improves Bypass Surgery

Would you rather have a robot or a human perform surgery on you? 

Maybe you haven’t really thought about it. I mean, it’s a tricky, personally loaded question. I’m not sure what I’d do, to be honest.

But we might all want to start thinking about it because medical technology advancements with the help of medical mechatronics are on the rise, and robotics in the medical field are starting to take center stage.

In fact, medical technology is far enough along that researchers aren’t testing, they’re doing actual studies.

Specifically, United Press International reported this week that minimally invasive heart bypass surgery using a da Vinci robotic system (a very mechatronic system) means a shorter hospital stay and a speedier patient recovery time. 

Last weekend at a meeting of the American Surgical Association in New York, Robert S Poston, Jr. of Boston Medical Center, and formerly of the University of Maryland Medical Center, presented the study titled, "Superior Financial and Quality Metrics with Robotically-assisted (DaVinci) Coronary Artery Revascularization." The study was also conducted by Bartley Griffith and Stephen T. Bartlett both of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD

Poston told UPI that scans taken months after the surgery show robotic grafts had less narrowing and fewer clots.

The researchers compared 100 consecutive patients having robotic surgery — which allows use of a blood vessel inside the chest — to a matched group of 100 patients with traditional open bypass surgery which requires a surgical incision through the sternum and leg blood vessel, said the article.

Some other findings include:

• Initially higher costs of about $8,000 for robotic bypass surgery are offset by long-term savings.
• Hospital stays for robotic surgery patients averaged four days vs. seven days for open operation patients.
• In high-risk patients, the average stay after robotic surgery was five days, compared to 12 days with the open technique.
• 88 percent of patients with robotic bypass remained free of complications after surgery compared to 66 percent of those with the open operation.

Check out more coverage of on the da Vinci Surgical System on DN’s Mechatronic Zone.