Author Archives: Jose Granell

The robotic microsurgery field is moving fast. But the clinical reality is still remarkably simple. In Europe and the US, the two dedicated systems currently clinically available are Symani (MMI) and MUSA-3 (Microsure). Other platforms are emerging. KAI in China is already entering clinical development through the NMPA innovative-device pathway, while Sony remains at theContinue reading “Update in Robotic Microsurgery”

Sony Microsurgery Assistance Robot is designed for supermicrosurgery, combining fingertip control, motion scaling, 4K 3D visualization and, particularly interestingly, automatic instrument exchange. Sony has demonstrated microvascular anastomosis on vessels of approximately 0.6 mm in diameter. The technology is still a prototype, not a commercially available surgical system. J Granell. Aug 9, 2026

What is genuinely different about DEXTER® from Distalmotion is not its size, neither its robotic instruments; not even the ability to combine robotic and laparoscopic surgery. The real novelty is the sterile surgeon console. The surgeon remains scrubbed, at the operating table, and can move almost seamlessly between conventional laparoscopy and robotic surgery. It takesContinue reading “DEXTER®: how close is close enough?”

Carina™ (Ronovo Surgical), has reach a milestone in Head&Neck Surgery with the publication of the first clinical series of gasless transaxillary robotic thyroidectomy in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma. In this early feasibility study, seven patients successfully underwent unilateral thyroidectomy with central neck dissection without conversion or major complications, demonstrating that the platform can beContinue reading “Carina™ entering Head&Neck Surgery”

China’s surgical robotics ecosystem continues to grow. Now is the time for AGIBOT laparoscopic surgical robot. At first glance, the system follows the now well-established architecture popularized by the da Vinci Xi: a multi-port telemanipulated platform with a familiar console and patient cart. Rather than reinventing the overall concept, AGIBOT has adopted an architecture thatContinue reading “AGIBOT laparoscopic surgical robot. A new entrant from China.”

REMIND stands for Robotic-Enabled Microsurgical Intervention for Neurodegenerative Disease, a clinical research program exploring a fascinating, and admittedly unconventional, hypothesis: could supermicrosurgery improve the brain’s waste clearance system and, in doing so, modify the course of Alzheimer’s disease? When I first read about the project, I immediately thought of the old saying: “If all youContinue reading “REMIND. Robotic super-microsurgery for Alheimer´s disease.”

We never went back to the Moon. I wrote this sentence on November 10, 2020, in a page in this web entitled “A Little Bit of History“, on the history of surgical robotics. Of course, right now, and back since 1969, that statement is no longer entirely true. NASA’s Artemis program is taking humans backContinue reading “Telesurgery, or why we never went back to the Moon”

The soft-tissue robotic surgery market continues to expand. Momentis Surgical has received FDA authorization for the ANOVO™ Surgical System, marking another important milestone in the arrival of new robotic platforms beyond the established players. ANOVO is a robotic system featuring a novel articulated mechanism designed to provide high dexterity through a compact architecture. While itContinue reading “ANOVO™: another player in soft-tissue surgical robotics”

The experience with the da Vinci SP in thyroid&neck surgery continues to grow, and this new publication by Jin Wook Yi and colleagues represents another important milestone. The authors report 500 consecutive cases performed using the Single-Port Robotic Areolar Approach (SPRA), including not only thyroidectomy but also modified radical neck dissection (MRND), reoperative surgery, andContinue reading “500 consecutive Single-Port Robotic Areolar (SPRA) thyroid&neck procedures.”

Durante años hemos trabajado con un nomenclátor que describía razonablemente bien la Otorrinolaringología… de hace veinte o treinta años. Mientras la especialidad evolucionaba (cirugía endoscópica avanzada, cirugía robótica, sialoendoscopia, DISE… y decenas de procedimientos más) el catálogo oficial seguía anclado en otra época. El resultado era absurdo. Procedimientos que hoy forman parte de la prácticaContinue reading “El nuevo Nomenclátor ORL 2026: mucho más que una actualización de códigos”