UK-based CMR Surgical has initiated its first multicentre prospective clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of its Versius surgical robotic system for use in paediatric surgery.

The trial is expected to enrol approximately 150 participants under 18 years of age who are undergoing a range of urological procedures with Versius. The study will be conducted across three National Health Service (NHS) sites in the UK. The participants' surgical outcomes will be tracked for up to one year.

The three NHS trial sites include Southampton Children’s Hospital; Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust; and Evelina London Children’s Hospital, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Versius is designed to perform robotic minimal access surgery, where an operation is performed through a series of small incisions in the body into which equipment is inserted. The robotic procedure reduces blood loss, post-surgery pain and recovery time. In September 2023, CMR Surgical raised $165m to continue the development of the Versius robot.

Robotic surgical systems have grown in popularity in recent years. According to GlobalData analysis, the surgical robotics market was worth approximately $7.2bn in 2033. It is expected to have a strong compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.7%. The growth of the robotic surgical systems market is driven by an increased focus on value-based healthcare, which focuses on improving surgical outcomes for patients.

There have been multiple recent advancements in surgical robotics such as using 5G for remote robotic surgery. In December 2023, Microbot Medical partnered with Corewell Health to develop telerobotics between remote centres using the Liberty endovascular robotic surgical system. Telerobotics functionality will allow for the surgical procedure to occur without the surgeon's presence at the concerned site.

In November 2023, Johnson & Johnson unveiled plans to submit its OTTAVA robotic surgical system to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an investigational device exemption (IDE) application status. The planned submission is expected to take place in the second half of 2024 and will be followed by the initiation of clinical trials of the system.

Companies such as EndoQuest Robotics and Omnivision are also working to integrate imaging into surgical robots. In January 2024, the companies partnered to integrate Omnivision’s OCHFA CameraCubeChip image sensor into EndoQuest’s flexible robotic system.