Cornerstone Robotics Completes First-in-Human Clinical Application of Its Laparoscopic Surgical Robot, Paving the Way to Break Foreign Technological Monopoly

2021 was hailed as the inaugural year for laparoscopic surgical robots in China, marking the country’s entry into a new era of domestically produced surgical robots.

For over a decade, the da Vinci Surgical System has dominated the global surgical robotics market. However, this supply-demand imbalance has led to high product prices, limited accessibility, low installation volumes, and poor market penetration. Today, the global surgical robotics sector is experiencing comprehensive growth, with medical device giants such as Johnson & Johnson, Stryker, and Siemens Healthineers significantly increasing their investments in this field. Meanwhile, the market for domestically produced surgical robots in China continues to heat up, showing significant growth in scale.

CCTV News: Domestically Produced Multi-Port Laparoscopic Surgical Robot

China’s large patient population and high demand for minimally invasive surgery are driving rapid growth in the surgical robotics market, which holds immense potential for expansion.

According to Frost & Sullivan statistics, the global market size for laparoscopic surgical robots grew from $2.71 billion in 2016 to $5.22 billion in 2020, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.0%. From 2015 to 2020, the market size for surgical robots in China increased from $93 million to $425 million (approximately RMB 2.76 billion), with a CAGR of 35.7%.

In 2020, the market size of laparoscopic surgical robots in China was $318 million, making it a major application area. It is estimated that by 2026, the global market for laparoscopic surgical robots will reach $33.59 billion, with the Chinese market reaching $3.84 billion (approximately RMB 25 billion), representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44.3%. China’s share of the global market is projected to increase from 5.1% in 2020 to 11.4%.

From a policy perspective, the continuous release of favorable national industrial policies has been evident. During the 13th and 14th Five-Year Plan periods, numerous policies and regulations were promulgated to consistently drive the in-depth development of China’s surgical robot industry. Various regions have also actively introduced policies to encourage the growth of the surgical robot sector. Taking the Greater Bay Area as an example, on June 6, 2022, multiple Shenzhen departments jointly issued the Action Plan for Cultivating and Developing the High-End Medical Device Industry Cluster in Shenzhen (2022–2025), which explicitly mentioned “surgical robots” as the first key task, underscoring the strong commitment of local authorities to promote this field.

The capital market has also shown great enthusiasm and confidence in domestically produced surgical robots. According to incomplete statistics from the Artery Orange database, cumulative financing in China’s surgical robotics sector exceeded RMB 3 billion in 2021. Many top-tier investment firms participated, including Meituan Longzhu, Lilly Asia Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, Puhua Capital, Changling Capital, and CDH VGC.

Amid the overarching innovation drive for domestic substitution and spurred by multiple favorable factors, China-made surgical robots have entered a period of rapid development, with outstanding enterprises emerging in succession.

Amidst a hundred vessels vying in the current, those who row with vigor take the lead.

Recently, another piece of encouraging news has emerged from the field of domestically produced surgical robots—the leading enterprise in this sectorCornerstone Roboticsin the New Territories of Hong Kong, ChinaPrince of Wales HospitalCompleted the first cohort of clinical enrollment for its multi-port laparoscopic surgical robot. Its inaugural urological procedure, a radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, was performed by the Professor of the Department of Surgery at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Director of the Ho Sin Hang Urology CentreProf. Wu ZhihuiTeam completed.

It is reported that the patient in this case was a 75-year-old male with a history of multiple abdominal surgeries, including bilateral hernia repair, making the radical prostatectomy particularly complex. Professor Wu’s team successfully performed the complex radical prostatectomy using the Cornerstone Robotics surgical system. The patient had his surgical drain removed on postoperative day 2, resumed a full diet on day 3, and was discharged, achieving favorable perioperative outcomes.

The successful execution of this surgery marks a breakthrough for domestic innovative enterprises in the field of surgical robotics, and signifies that China’s laparoscopic surgical robots have taken a further step onto the global stage.

Cornerstone Robotics Surgical Robot Initiates Human Clinical Procedures

According to reports, surgeries performed using the Cornerstone Robotics multi-port laparoscopic surgical robot offer advantages over traditional procedures, including high precision in incision positioning, smaller surgical incisions, and enhanced clinical safety. Additionally, it minimizes invasiveness to the patient’s body, thereby facilitating postoperative recovery. Overall, it not only shortens operative time and improves surgical efficiency but also enhances the effectiveness and precision of the procedure. This holds significant importance for promoting the substitution of imported products with domestically produced alternatives and advancing smart healthcare.

Professor Wu Zhihui, for this surgery“The success of the first-ever human trial in urology has left me highly satisfied with the performance of Cornerstone Robotics’ independently developed surgical robot. The Cornerstone patient-side robot is lightweight and easy to operate. It provides a high-definition 3D view, with ideal brightness and clarity, making vascular textures and even sutures from the patient’s previous surgeries clearly visible.”

“Precise and flexible operation allows surgeons to perform complex and delicate maneuvers in confined spaces without instrument collision or interference. Cornerstone Robotics’ energy devices provide ideal cutting and hemostasis, while delivering accurate suture tension, thereby minimizing patient trauma and facilitating postoperative recovery. Overall, the robotic arms of Cornerstone Robotics’ surgical system offer high dexterity and lag-free control, with performance virtually indistinguishable from that of international brands. Furthermore, the system is easy to learn and operate, imposing minimal psychological stress on surgeons and allowing them to maintain their established surgical habits and techniques, which is crucial for ensuring procedural safety.”

Subsequently, in his presentation at the 2022 Beijing Urology Laparoscopy and Robotics Conference, Professor Wu Zhihui praised Cornerstone Robotics’ surgical robot as not only safe, effective, and reliable, but also user-friendly and accessible. He regarded the Cornerstone Robotics surgical system as a “Good Choice” that truly meets clinical needs, with the potential to enable more patients and healthcare professionals to benefit from advancements in robotic surgery technology.

Professor Wu Praises Cornerstone Robotics’ Surgical Robot as the “Good Choice” Truly Needed in Clinical Practice

It is reported that Cornerstone Robotics’ surgical robot has simultaneously been deployed in multiple clinical surgical procedures within general surgery, involving various anatomical sites such as the stomach and colon, and has initially achieved promising clinical outcomes.

Cornerstone Robotics’ ability to earn expert endorsement, achieve milestone clinical progress, and carve out a niche for Chinese-made surgical robots in the international market dominated by industry giants was not achieved overnight.

Since its inception, Cornerstone Robotics has been driven by clinical needs and guided by independent innovation. Through three years of unwavering dedication, the company has overcome numerous challenges to secure one technological breakthrough after another. By continuously refining and polishing its capabilities across team composition, foundational technologies, product design, and complete system manufacturing, Cornerstone Robotics has comprehensively built a wide competitive moat.

Build an international R&D team to accumulate talent-driven innovation momentum.Surgical robots represent the pinnacle of medical engineering technology, imposing exceptionally high demands on the development team’s expertise and comprehensive capabilities. Cornerstone Robotics has established a global strategic footprint across Hong Kong (China), Shenzhen, Beijing, and the United States, assembling a professional team of hundreds of experts spanning multiple disciplines, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, software development, control systems, algorithms, and medical imaging. With a global perspective and internationally leading technologies, the company effectively translates clinicians’ needs into engineering specifications during product research and development, breaks through patent barriers imposed by overseas competitors, and pioneers solutions for domestically produced surgical robots.

Adhere to source innovation and diligently strengthen foundational technologies.Since its inception, Cornerstone Robotics has championed independent innovation. The team has achieved full in-house research and development of core technologies, including mechanical architecture, power modules, electrical architecture, software architecture, complex algorithms, and visual imaging control. By mastering these critical technologies and achieving complete self-development of the entire system, the company has delivered superior system integration, higher precision, lower latency, precise manipulation, and realistic visualization. These advancements ensure stability and safety during surgical procedures, fundamentally resolving the dependency of domestically produced surgical robots on foreign suppliers for core components and key technologies.

Collaborating with global experts to integrate the entire research-to-application workflow.Cornerstone Robotics maintains close collaborations with leading hospitals and experts both in China and abroad. This enables the company to access cutting-edge global technologies at the earliest opportunity, thereby sustaining its technological innovation and leadership. Simultaneously, it deeply uncovers a vast array of authentic, unmet clinical needs, responds rapidly, and provides safe and effective products and solutions. These offerings are promptly validated and refined through clinical feedback, allowing for incremental innovations that yield products and services more closely aligned with clinical requirements.

Leveraging China’s stable supply chain to deliver cost-effective solutions.Cornerstone Robotics’ laparoscopic surgical robot comprises tens of thousands of components. During manufacturing, it is essential to ensure that all functional specifications are met during assembly and integration, imposing stringent requirements on the production line for precision and complex system manufacturing. The greater the number and variety of components, the higher the demands on the production line and, consequently, the higher the costs. Well aware of this, Cornerstone Robotics established a mass-production factory in Shenzhen. Leveraging the mature industrial supply chain and policy support in the Greater Bay Area, the company can minimize manufacturing costs while ensuring high product quality, thereby offering cost-effective products and services that enable premium medical resources to truly reach grassroots healthcare facilities.

Furthermore, Cornerstone Robotics will embark on its internationalization journey,Gradually initiate the FDA and CE certification processes,Strive to bring surgical robot products, which represent China’s capabilities in medical industrialization and high-end equipment manufacturing, to the global market as soon as possible. Meanwhile, actively collect feedback from the global market to continuously optimize and iterate the products.

The road is long and arduous, but perseverance leads to success; with unwavering commitment, the future holds great promise. Moving forward, Cornerstone Robotics will continue to advance rapidly in the field of surgical robotics. Guided by clinical needs, supported by independent innovation, and bridged by medical-engineering collaboration, we will build a product portfolio spanning multiple specialties and clinical applications. Our mission is to provide efficient, safe, reliable, and accessible intelligent manufacturing solutions from China to physicians and patients worldwide.