Jing Feng Medical: Breaking U.S. Technological Monopoly, Chinese Surgical Robots Set for a Strategic Leap

In 2015, a video of the da Vinci surgical robot peeling a grape was released on YouTube, astonishing audiences with its technical prowess. Today, existing surgical robots can peel quail eggs without breaking the membrane and suture ultra-fine 2-mm tubing with no fluid leakage. This time, the underlying technological strength comes from a domestic medical device company, Shenzhen Jingfeng Medical Technology Co., Ltd.

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Edge Medical’s single-port surgical robot has broken through the patent blockade imposed by the da Vinci Surgical System in China. As early as May 2018, the company conducted the first domestic animal trial of a single-port surgical robot. Currently, Edge Medical’s prototype has been iterated to the third generation, with market launch expected within two years.

Edge Medical Single-Port Surgical Robot Suturing Rubber Tube Video

In China, the development of medical surgical robots has been incorporated into the "Made in China 2025" initiative. However, Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci Surgical System has monopolized the global multi-port surgical robot market, with cumulative installations exceeding 5,000 units and high product costs. In contrast, single-port surgical robots offer a higher degree of freedom for their operating arms compared to currently available multi-port systems, requiring only a small incision in the patient’s body to perform laparoscopic surgery. In this untapped niche segment, Chinese manufacturers have greater potential to leverage emerging technologies to achieve rapid advancement and overtake competitors.

Therefore, multiple institutions in China are conducting R&D and strategic layout for single-port robots, and Edge Medical can be regarded as the main force in the domestic R&D of single-port robots.

What is the clinical value of single-port surgical robots? How does Edge Medical achieve independent R&D? VCBeat interviewed Wang Jianchen, founder of Edge Medical.

The recently popular documentary *Two Hundred Years of Surgery* reveals the origins and development of surgical procedures. In its third episode, *Direct Access*, it introduces Kurt Semm, a German medical genius who pioneered laparoscopic surgery and ushered in the era of minimally invasive surgery.

"As recently as the 1960s, open laparotomy was the sole approach for addressing abdominal diseases; even when a lesion no larger than a soybean was identified in the abdomen, major open surgery was still required."

Using a laparoscope, Semm created keyhole-sized incisions in the patient’s abdomen. With the light source and lens at the tip, physicians could clearly visualize the abdominal cavity and locate lesions. Semm modified the laparoscope, transforming it into a surgical instrument capable of cutting, grasping, and cauterizing.

Laparoscopic surgery avoids the large abdominal incisions required in traditional open procedures. Instead, it requires only three 1-centimeter small incisions in the patient’s abdomen, into which tubular working channels called “trocars” are inserted. All subsequent operative maneuvers are performed through these three ports. Using specially designed elongated surgical instruments under video monitoring, the surgeon replicates the same steps as in open surgery, achieving equivalent surgical outcomes.

Kurt Semm’s invention ushered in the era of minimally invasive abdominal surgery, while the advent of multi-port surgical robots has once again revolutionized minimally invasive surgical procedures. Multi-port surgical robots can magnify the surgeon’s intraoperative visual field by 10 to 15 times, and their robotic arms can reduce hand tremors, significantly enhancing surgical precision and alleviating surgeon fatigue during operations.

For patients, multi-port robotic surgery causes less trauma, reduces postoperative adhesions resulting from intraoperative tissue trauma and inflammatory responses, and leads to better postoperative outcomes.

Single-port surgical robots represent a significant advancement over multi-port systems—consolidating multiple incisions into a single one, thereby further minimizing surgical trauma and intraoperative blood loss, reducing the risk of patient infection and recovery costs, and featuring a more compact footprint that requires less operating room space.

Single-port surgical robots can avoid the complex preoperative positioning of multiple operating arms, simplify the surgical process, and thereby reduce patient anesthesia time.

Wang Jianchen stated, “In terms of surgical precision, the operating arm of the single-port surgical robot can achieve flexible manipulation with seven degrees of freedom within a more confined space, thereby enhancing surgical accuracy. Regarding safety, the single-port surgical robot eliminates the risk of intraoperative collisions and interference among multiple robotic arms, thus ensuring greater procedural safety.”

Single-port surgical robots can achieve numerous technological breakthroughs, but they also impose higher demands on R&D capabilities.

Single-port operations impose higher requirements on the dexterity, precision, and force control of robotic arms. Traditional design and control methods for robotic arms can no longer meet the demands of single-port surgical robots. Only through fundamental innovation can R&D breakthroughs be achieved and single-port robots be successfully commercialized, which significantly increases the overall difficulty of research and development.

To achieve R&D breakthroughs, Edge Medical has assembled a multidisciplinary team spanning mechanics, electronics, artificial intelligence, materials science, medical imaging, and industrial design. To date, Edge Medical has filed over 140 patents related to minimally invasive surgical robots, with more than 90% being invention patents.

Wang Jianchen revealed, “Compared with the three degrees of freedom offered by multi-port surgical robotic instruments, our single-port surgical robotic instruments provide 6–7 degrees of freedom. Achieving six-dimensional movement requires exceptional motion precision. We have pioneered a wire-driven, multi-degree-of-freedom mechanical design technology known as coupled nine-axis linkage technology, which enables precise movement of the end-effector instruments. Its dexterity and stability exceed the limits of the human hand, resulting in a qualitative improvement in the performance of the micro-robotic arms and fully meeting clinical requirements.”

In addition to its proprietary technologies for robotic arms, Edge Medical has independently developed the console, imaging system, and core algorithms of its surgical robots, thereby establishing a comprehensive portfolio of independent intellectual property rights.

Wang Jianchen stated, “For instance, in the design of the master console, we have adopted six-dimensional sensing technology to capture the surgeon’s hand movements, enabling greater dexterity and comfort. In terms of imaging technology, we have developed our solutions from the ground up, starting with independent chip development, and we hold independent intellectual property rights for our imaging systems.”

If past innovations in surgery relied on the flashes of genius from individual surgeons, surgical robots have revolutionized the field by integrating the expertise of physicians and engineers with multidisciplinary technologies.

Dr. Wang Jianchen and Dr. Gao Yuanqian, the two founders of Edge Medical, began focusing on surgical robot research during their master’s studies at Tianjin University, where they studied under Professor Wang Shuxin, a renowned Chinese robotics expert, a pioneer in laparoscopic surgical robot research in China, and Vice President of Tianjin University. Although Edge Medical is a newcomer to the industry, its two founders have accumulated over nine years of research experience in this field. “Professor Wang guided me step by step to the international forefront of surgical robot research, greatly influencing the exploration and enhancement of my scientific research capabilities,” said Wang Jianchen. While still pursuing their doctoral degrees at Tianjin University, the two were separately sent abroad on government scholarships to continue their PhD studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, respectively. MIT is also the birthplace of the da Vinci Surgical System. After returning to China in 2017, they promptly founded Edge Medical.

When asked about his motivation for starting a business, Wang Jianchen stated, “During my joint Ph.D. program at MIT, I relentlessly pursued and ultimately independently mastered the cutting-edge international technology for developing single-port surgical robots. My MIT advisor, Professor Hunter, played a pivotal role in guiding my entrepreneurial journey. Professor Hunter is a renowned faculty member at MIT, as well as a distinguished American inventor and entrepreneur who has founded or co-founded a total of 25 startups. He strongly believes that technology should change the world and influence society through tangible products. This philosophy profoundly influenced me and directly inspired me to embark on the path of entrepreneurship. Furthermore, we are highly optimistic about the future of the surgical robotics industry. The surgical robot market in China, and indeed globally, remains largely untapped—a ‘blue ocean’—with future market potential far exceeding its current size. We believe that surgical robots will become as ubiquitous in operating rooms as industrial robots are in factories.”

Optoelectronic technology has emerged as a new force in surgical procedures, yet physicians remain the central driving force behind surgical innovation. To ensure product design aligns closely with clinicians’ operational habits and effectively addresses intraoperative challenges, Edge Medical has maintained close collaboration with physicians throughout its product development process.

Wang Jianchen introduced Edge Medical’s model of integrating medicine and engineering: “Our team of clinical consultant physicians provides guidance at our company. We also regularly send our engineers to operating rooms to observe surgeries firsthand, enabling them to truly understand physicians’ needs and perspectives. We are currently collaborating with several top-tier Grade A tertiary hospitals.”

In terms of core technologies, Edge Medical adheres to independent innovation. However, regarding product design, Wang Jianchen acknowledged that Edge Medical places greater emphasis on user needs. “We must pursue independent research and development for our core technologies; nevertheless, we align the user interface and operational workflows more closely with the design of the da Vinci Surgical System. This ensures that surgeons experience no sense of unfamiliarity when transitioning from one platform to another.”

At this stage, Wang Jianchen stated that Edge Medical’s top priority is to stay focused and dedicated to developing truly high-quality products. Therefore, the company’s primary task is to commercialize its R&D achievements.

Wang Jianchen stated, “I recall Mr. Ren Zhengfei mentioning in an interview that startups need not dwell on methodologies; as long as they focus on making their ‘tofu’ well, there will always be buyers. At this stage, we too will concentrate solely on productization, diligently refining our own ‘tofu’ to earn the recognition of clinicians worldwide.”