1989 - A high-tech medical device company Computer Motion was founded with a goal to revolutionize surgical practices and to improve patient lives.
1992 - Integrated Surgical Systems introduced RoboDoc for orthopedic surgery, specifically total hip arthroplasty. This robotic system allowed orthopedic surgeons to pre-plan their operations while performing more accurate surgery. This robot gained acceptance for use in Europe but still has not received FDA clearance for marketing in the U.S.
November 7, 1992 - The first robot-assisted human hip replacements using Robodoc, on a 64-year-old man suffering from osteoarthritis. Ten more robot-assisted human hip replacements using Robodoc were performed at Sutter General Hospital, Sacramento, Calif., under an investigational device exemption (IDE) approved by FDA Oct. 9,1992.
December 1993 - The AesopTM 1000, a robotic system used for holding an endoscopic camera in minimal invasive laparoscopic surgery, developed by computer motion was approved by the FDA.
1995 - Frederic Moll, M.D., Robert Younge and John Freund, M.D. formed Intuitive based on foundational robotic surgery technology developed at SRI International (formerly known as Stanford Research Institute).
1997 - The da Vinci Surgical System manufactured by Intuitive Surgical Inc., became the first assisting surgical robot to receive FDA approval to help surgeons more easily perform laparoscopic surgery.
1997 - Jacques Himpens and Guy Cardier in Brussels, Belgium used the da Vinci by Intuitive Surgical Inc. system to perform the first telesurgery gall bladder operation.
1997 - Integrated Surgical Systems Inc. purchased Innovative Medical Machines Int. (MMI), its Neuromate System and extended its field of robotic from orthopedics to neurosurgery.
May 1998 - Carpentier et al. performed the first mitral valve repair using an early prototype of the da Vinci articulated intracardiac "wrist" robotic device.
1998 - Dr. Frank Diamiano performed the first procedure in the United States with a reanastomosis of a fallopian tube using the Zeus system.
September 24, 1999 - Dr. Boyd of London Health Sciences Centre's (LHSC) university performed the world's first robotically-assisted closed-chest beating heart cardiac bypass operation on 60-year-old dairy farmer John Penner using the Zeus system.
November 22, 1999 - The first closed-chest beating heart cardiac hybrid revascularization procedure is performed at the London Health Sciences Centre (London, Ontario). Dr. Douglas Boyd used Zeus to perform an endoscopic, single-vessel heart bypass surgery on a 55 year-old male patient's left anterior descending artery.
December 9, 1999 - Dr. Ralph Damiano, Jr., at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey performed the first robotic assisted beating heart bypass in the United States using the Zeus Robotical Surgical System.July 11, 2000 - Intuitive Surgical Inc. received clearance from the FDA to market the da Vinci¨ Surgical System in the United States for use in laparoscopic surgical procedures.
March 13, 2000 - Dr. Francois Laborde of L'Institut Mutualiste Montsouris Chiosy performed the first time pediatric cardiac procedures using Computer Motion's Zeus robotic assistance to perform seven fully endoscopic closures of the patent ductus arteriosis (PDA).
October 9, 2001 - ZEUS® Robotic Surgical System from Computer Motion receives FDA regulatory clearance with the FDA decision for U.S. surgeons to use a variety of instruments to perform a wide range of robotically assisted laparoscopic and thoracic procedures.
August 2001 - The CyberKnife® became the first image-guided robotic technology to receive FDA clearance for non-invasive cancer surgery to provide radio-surgery for lesions anywhere in the body when radiation treatment is indicated.
September 7, 2001 - ZEUS robotic system developed by Computer Motion was used in the trans-Atlantic operation. A doctor in New York removed the diseased gallbladder of a 68-year-old patient in Strasbourg, France.
October 1, 2001 - FDA cleared the marketing of the CyberKnife with Dynamic Tracking Software (DTS) developed by Accuray Incorporated to provide radiosurgery for lesions, tumors, and conditions anywhere in the body when radiation treatment is indicated.
March 7, 2000 - Two leading medical robotic companies Intuitive Surgical Inc. and Computer Motion Inc. announced the merge agreement, combining the companiesÕ products for operative surgical robots, telesurgery and operating room integration.
July 7, 2004 - FDA cleared the marketing of a robotic-like system to assist in coronary artery by-pass surgery enabling the surgeon to perform heart surgery while seated at a console with a computer and video monitor.
Apr 9, 2005 - Surgeons at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago successfully performed a laparoscopic right hepatectomy, removing approximately 60 percent of her liver, and the tumor using the da Vinci¨ Surgical System.