Published Oct 20, 2026
Updated Oct 20, 2026
Yulum Wang earned his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1988, specialising in robotics. Rather than pursuing a conventional academic career, he chose to develop products. In 1990, he founded Computer Motion, a company that would become one of the central players in the early history of surgical robotics.
AESOP: the robotic camera holder
Computer Motion’s first major success was AESOP (Automated Endoscopic System for Optimal Positioning), a robotic arm designed to hold and position the laparoscopic camera. Instead of relying on an assistant to maintain the view, the surgeon could control the camera using voice commands.
AESOP received FDA clearance in 1994 and became the first surgical robotic system cleared for clinical use in the United States. Its significance lay in a relatively simple but important idea: a robot did not need to perform the operation itself to be useful. By taking over a repetitive task and providing stable camera positioning, it could change how the surgical team worked.
Computer Motion subsequently developed HERMES, a voice-controlled system for integrating operating-room devices, and ZEUS, a robotic platform that allowed surgeons to manipulate laparoscopic instruments remotely from a console. These systems helped establish the technological foundations of modern robotic surgery.
ZEUS and the transatlantic operation
Wang’s name became inseparable from one of the most celebrated events in the history of telesurgery: Operation Lindbergh, performed on 7 September 2001.
Using the ZEUS system and a dedicated transatlantic telecommunications connection, surgeons in New York operated on a patient in Strasbourg, France. Led by Jacques Marescaux, the team completed a laparoscopic cholecystectomy from approximately 6,200 kilometres away. The operation demonstrated that a surgeon and patient could be separated by an ocean without making remote robotic surgery technically impossible.
For Wang and Computer Motion, the procedure represented the realisation of an idea that had helped motivate the development of surgical robotics: the possibility of separating the surgeon’s physical location from the operating site. It was a remarkable technical achievement, although it did not establish that telesurgery would be appropriate or economically practical for routine use.
The merger with Intuitive Surgical
Intuitive Surgical became a major competitor to Computer Motion. The da Vinci system followed a different technological and commercial trajectory. The two companies competed in the emerging market for robotic surgery before merging in 2003. The merger brought the principal early commercial competitors under one corporate umbrella and marked a decisive moment in the consolidation of the industry.
Wang’s contribution to this period is a reminder that the history of robotic surgery was not a straight line leading inevitably to a single platform. AESOP, HERMES and ZEUS represented a distinct approach to automation, instrument control and remote operation. Their development helped define the problems that subsequent systems would address.
Beyond the operating room
After Computer Motion, Wang turned his attention to another challenge in healthcare: connecting clinicians with patients across distance. He founded InTouch Health, developing telemedicine technologies that enabled remote consultation and clinical support. InTouch was acquired by Teladoc Health in 2020, extending the reach of the company he had built into a much larger telehealth organisation.
PS. Wang was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2011 and has received multiple awards for his contributions to healthcare technology and entrepreneurship. His career spans surgical robotics, remote care and the broader ambition of making medical expertise more accessible.