DoD buys Intuitive DaVinci Surgical Robots for $430M

Defense.gov Contracts for Monday, March 02, 2015

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Intuitive Surgical Inc., Sunnyvale, California, has been awarded a maximum $430,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for surgical robotic systems, instruments, accessories and upgrades. This contract was a competitive acquisition and 35 offers were received. This is a five-year base contract with no option periods. Location of performance is California with a Feb. 23, 2020, performance completion date. Using
military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1-15-D-0002).

Related/Background

• Robotic Surgery Opens Up - Scientific American
• Robotic Surgery
• The Future Of Robotic Surgery - Business Insider
• The RAVEN Surgical Robotic System | CITRIS
• UW BioRobotics Lab | A blog dedicated to the achievements of the UW BRL

Open source robotic surgery system in the works - FierceHealthIT

While the Da Vinci surgical system is the only robot with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval--and the target of plenty of criticism--researchers are looking to develop surgical robots based on open source technology, reports Scientific American.


Taking a page from software development, it would involve a basic design that wouldn't change from device to device and involve a community of developers to improve it and create their own  innovations.


Researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz [Professor Jacob Rosen | CITRIS], and the University of Washington say that by using open source, the multimillion-dollar price of the system would fall, as would the learning curve for using it.

Despite its $2 million price tag, the da Vinci system was used in 350,000 surgeries in 2012, according to the article. In 2012, the FDA received 1,595 reports of adverse events-- deaths, injuries or malfunctions--related to the system, and 3,697 adverse reports from January through November 2013.


Hospitals have been accused of hyping robotic surgery while downplaying the risks. Johns Hopkins research found it much costlier than minimally invasive laproscopic surgery on the colon, but  providing no great advantage to patients. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a statement saying it's not the best choice for routine procedures.

Robotic surgery was listed in FierceHealthIT's list of five overrated, overpriced healthcare technologies. This fall, the ECRI Institute ranked robotic surgery as No. 9 on its Top 10 health  technology hazards list, pointing out that there currently are no widely recognized requirements for robotic surgery training and credentialing programs.