What is the da Vinci surgical robot?

da Vinci is Intuitive Surgical's flagship surgical robotics platform. The current generation is da Vinci 5, FDA-cleared March 2024. Architecture is teleoperated baseline + shipped analytics AI: surgeon controls robotic arms and instruments through a console with stereo visualization; per-case analytics + surgeon performance metrics layer onto the teleoperated baseline. Prior generations (da Vinci Xi, da Vinci X, earlier Si and S series) remain in operating hospital inventories. Per SEC 10-Q registry source-of-truth, installed base is 11,395 da Vinci systems across generations.

Ion is a separate Intuitive product line: a robotic-bronchoscopy platform for minimally-invasive lung biopsy. Per SEC 10-Q registry source-of-truth, Ion installed base is 1,041 systems. Ion is a distinct platform from da Vinci, with its own clearance progression + customer base (pulmonology + interventional pulmonology, not general surgery). Per DEPLOY's framework, the two product lines anchor separately at the registry layer; trade-press coverage conflating Ion + da Vinci installed bases is editorially imprecise.

Is da Vinci autonomous?

No. da Vinci's verified shipped architecture is teleoperated baseline + shipped analytics AI. The surgeon directly controls robotic arms and instruments through a console; analytics features layer onto the teleoperated baseline as operational analytics, not autonomous control. Autonomous suturing work on da Vinci hardware operates at research-demo tier; lab demonstrations are not shipped as product. Per DEPLOY's framework, autonomous tissue manipulation in clinical use does not yet exist as a shipped product on da Vinci hardware or elsewhere in the surgical robotics cohort.

How much does a da Vinci system cost?

Per-system pricing is not consumer-relevant. Surgical robots are multi-million-dollar B2B capital purchases sold to hospital systems and surgical-services networks. Pricing structures vary by configuration, geography, customer relationship, and service-contract terms. Per DEPLOY's framework, per-system pricing is editorially substantive at the B2B-procurement layer; it is not a consumer-facing pricing question. Specific pricing should be verified through Intuitive direct customer communications for hospital-system procurement context.

Explainers Surgical robotics

What is Intuitive Surgical and the da Vinci surgical robot?

Intuitive Surgical is the verified-at-scale anchor of the surgical robotics cohort. Per SEC 10-Q registry source-of-truth, installed base is 11,395 da Vinci systems + 1,041 Ion systems; the installed base dwarfs combined competitor installed base. da Vinci 5 was FDA-cleared March 2024 as the current product generation; Ion is a separate robotic-bronchoscopy product line. Architecture is teleoperated baseline with shipped analytics AI; autonomous suturing work on da Vinci hardware is research demos, not shipped product. Maturity: production. Per DEPLOY's framework, da Vinci is the gold standard verified deployment all other surgical entrants are measured against.

11,395

da Vinci installed base per 10-Q

1,041

Ion installed base per 10-Q

March 2024

da Vinci 5 FDA clearance

1995

Founded

NASDAQ ISRG

Public-listing verification

Mid-2026

Snapshot date

Intuitive Surgical: the verified-at-scale anchor

Intuitive Surgical is the verified-at-scale anchor of the surgical robotics cohort. Founded 1995; headquartered in Sunnyvale, California; publicly traded (NASDAQ: ISRG). The company's two principal product lines are the da Vinci surgical platform (general surgical applications) and Ion (robotic bronchoscopy). Both lines are FDA-cleared and operate at commercial production tier.

Per SEC 10-Q registry source-of-truth, Intuitive's installed base is 11,395 da Vinci systems + 1,041 Ion systems. The installed-base scale dwarfs the combined installed base of all competitor platforms in DEPLOY's surgical robotics cohort. Per DEPLOY's verified-vs-claimed framework, this anchors Intuitive at the highest verification tier the framework supports: production deployment verified by SEC filings, multi-decade operating history, and consistent regulatory clearance progression.

da Vinci: the platform generation arc

The current da Vinci platform generation is da Vinci 5, FDA-cleared March 2024. Prior generations (da Vinci Xi, da Vinci X, earlier Si and S series) remain in operating hospital inventories; the installed base is composed of a mix of current and prior generations across the global footprint.

Per registry source-of-truth + Intuitive public disclosures, da Vinci platform architecture is teleoperated baseline with shipped analytics AI:

Teleoperated baseline: surgeon controls robotic arms and instruments through a console with stereo visualization. The surgeon's hand movements translate to robotic-instrument motion with motion scaling and tremor filtering. This is the verified shipped product capability across the installed base.
Shipped analytics AI: per-case analytics, surgeon performance metrics, instrument-usage tracking, and quality-improvement features layered onto the teleoperated baseline. These are operational analytics, not autonomous-control capability.
Research demos on production hardware: autonomous suturing work on da Vinci hardware is research-demo tier; lab demonstrations are not shipped as product. Per DEPLOY's framework, this surfaces at research tier, not at commercial-deployed tier.

Ion: separate robotic bronchoscopy product line

Ion is a separate Intuitive product line: a robotic-bronchoscopy platform for minimally-invasive lung biopsy. Per SEC 10-Q registry source-of-truth, Ion installed base is 1,041 systems. Ion is a distinct platform from da Vinci, with its own clearance progression and customer base (pulmonology + interventional pulmonology, not general surgery).

The Ion product line is editorially substantive because it demonstrates Intuitive's strategy beyond da Vinci's general-surgical envelope. Per DEPLOY's framework, the two product lines are anchored separately at the registry layer; trade-press coverage that conflates Ion installed base with da Vinci installed base is editorially imprecise.

Verified-vs-claimed reading

Applying DEPLOY's verified-vs-claimed framework to Intuitive Surgical:

Company verified: real public company with multi-decade operating history; SEC-filing financial state + public-listing verification on operational scale.
Product verified at production scale: 11,395 da Vinci + 1,041 Ion installed per SEC 10-Q. The verified gating event (FDA clearance) is present across product generations; the installed base anchors production-tier verification at the highest depth the framework supports.
Clearance progression verified: da Vinci 5 FDA-cleared March 2024; ongoing per-indication and per-generation clearance progression documented in FDA records.
Architecture verified at teleoperated baseline + shipped analytics AI: the verified shipped product capability is teleoperated baseline with analytics features; autonomous tissue manipulation is research, not shipped product.
Cap-flag on autonomous-surgical-AI claims: autonomous suturing demos on da Vinci hardware are research-demo tier per DEPLOY's framework; trade-press framings that elevate research demos to shipped product would distort the verification posture.

Where da Vinci fits in the cohort

Per DEPLOY's surgical robotics framework, da Vinci anchors the cohort's autonomy spectrum at the teleoperated-baseline + analytics-AI position. Other cohort positions:

Teleoperated baseline: Medtronic Hugo, CMR Surgical Versius, Asensus/Karl Storz Senhance, Distalmotion Dexter.
Narrow autonomous functions: Moon Surgical ScoPilot (FDA-cleared with PCCP); Brain Navi NaoTrac (autonomous registration).
Pre-market research: J&J Ottava (De Novo January 2026); Vicarious Surgical V1 (SPAC-era hype, distressed pre-market).

The installed-base differential matters: Intuitive's 11,395 da Vinci + 1,041 Ion dwarfs combined competitor installed base. Trade-press framings of new entrants "challenging Intuitive's dominance" should be read against the installed-base differential, not just clearance + launch milestones.

Pricing context

Per-system pricing is not consumer-relevant. Surgical robots are multi-million-dollar B2B capital purchases sold to hospital systems and surgical-services networks. Pricing structures vary by configuration, geography, and customer relationship. Per DEPLOY's framework, per-system pricing is editorially substantive at the B2B-procurement layer; it is not a consumer-facing pricing question.

Where to go for context

For broader surgical robotics cohort context + cohort enumeration + cohort autonomy spectrum, see what is a surgical robot. For the corporate-scale-does-not-equal-verified contrast, see what is Johnson & Johnson Ottava. For broader physical AI category context, see what is physical AI.

For the canonical Intuitive Surgical record (founding history, financial state, product-line breakdown, FDA clearance progression), see Intuitive Surgical's registry entity. For the framework DEPLOY applies to verifying capability and deployment claims across operators, see how DEPLOY verifies capability claims. For methodology canonical references applicable to Intuitive da Vinci: the 4-way autonomy-boundary taxonomy (replacement-robotics teleoperated tier) + the 9-tier source-quality rubric (SEC 10-Q installed-base + reputable-press source classification).

Source: SEC 10-Q (Intuitive) + DEPLOY registry + per-entity operational records + FDA clearance records. Installed-base + autonomy-spectrum framework.
Entity	Installed base scale	Autonomy spectrum	Tier
Intuitive da Vinci	11,395 systems (SEC 10-Q)	Teleoperated baseline + shipped analytics AI	Production
Intuitive Ion	1,041 systems (SEC 10-Q)	Teleoperated baseline (bronchoscopy)	Production
Medtronic Hugo	Cleared; smaller installed base	Teleoperated baseline	Commercial
CMR Surgical Versius	Cleared; smaller installed base	Teleoperated baseline	Commercial
Moon Surgical Maestro (ScoPilot)	Cleared with PCCP; specific hospital systems	Narrow autonomous (surgical AI standout)	Commercial
J&J Ottava + Vicarious V1	Pre-market; no installed base	Research / pre-clinical	Research

Frequently asked questions

What is Intuitive Surgical?: Intuitive Surgical is the verified-at-scale anchor of the surgical robotics cohort. Founded 1995; headquartered in Sunnyvale, California; publicly traded NASDAQ ISRG. The company's two principal product lines are the da Vinci surgical platform (general surgical applications) and Ion (robotic bronchoscopy). Both lines are FDA-cleared and operate at commercial production tier. Per SEC 10-Q registry source-of-truth, installed base is 11,395 da Vinci + 1,041 Ion systems; the scale dwarfs combined competitor installed base.
What is the da Vinci surgical robot?: da Vinci is Intuitive Surgical's flagship surgical robotics platform. The current generation is da Vinci 5, FDA-cleared March 2024. Architecture is teleoperated baseline + shipped analytics AI: surgeon controls robotic arms and instruments through a console with stereo visualization; per-case analytics + surgeon performance metrics layer onto the teleoperated baseline. Prior generations (da Vinci Xi, da Vinci X, earlier Si and S series) remain in operating hospital inventories. Per SEC 10-Q registry source-of-truth, installed base is 11,395 da Vinci systems across generations.
How many da Vinci systems are installed?: Per SEC 10-Q registry source-of-truth, 11,395 da Vinci systems installed. The installed base is composed of a mix of current and prior generations across the global footprint. Per DEPLOY's framework, the installed-base scale dwarfs the combined installed base of all competitor platforms in DEPLOY's surgical robotics cohort. Trade-press framings of new entrants "challenging Intuitive's dominance" should be read against the installed-base differential, not just clearance + launch milestones.
What is Ion?: Ion is a separate Intuitive product line: a robotic-bronchoscopy platform for minimally-invasive lung biopsy. Per SEC 10-Q registry source-of-truth, Ion installed base is 1,041 systems. Ion is a distinct platform from da Vinci, with its own clearance progression + customer base (pulmonology + interventional pulmonology, not general surgery). Per DEPLOY's framework, the two product lines anchor separately at the registry layer; trade-press coverage conflating Ion + da Vinci installed bases is editorially imprecise.
Is da Vinci autonomous?: No. da Vinci's verified shipped architecture is teleoperated baseline + shipped analytics AI. The surgeon directly controls robotic arms and instruments through a console; analytics features layer onto the teleoperated baseline as operational analytics, not autonomous control. Autonomous suturing work on da Vinci hardware operates at research-demo tier; lab demonstrations are not shipped as product. Per DEPLOY's framework, autonomous tissue manipulation in clinical use does not yet exist as a shipped product on da Vinci hardware or elsewhere in the surgical robotics cohort.
How much does a da Vinci system cost?: Per-system pricing is not consumer-relevant. Surgical robots are multi-million-dollar B2B capital purchases sold to hospital systems and surgical-services networks. Pricing structures vary by configuration, geography, customer relationship, and service-contract terms. Per DEPLOY's framework, per-system pricing is editorially substantive at the B2B-procurement layer; it is not a consumer-facing pricing question. Specific pricing should be verified through Intuitive direct customer communications for hospital-system procurement context.

Intuitive Surgical verified at production tier: 11,395 da Vinci + 1,041 Ion installed per SEC 10-Q; da Vinci 5 FDA-cleared March 2024; multi-decade operating history + NASDAQ public-listing verification. Architecture: teleoperated baseline + shipped analytics AI; autonomous suturing demos on da Vinci hardware are research-demo tier, not shipped product. Gold standard verified deployment all surgical entrants are measured against. How DEPLOY verifies →

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