TheTechno Optimist.

da Vinci 5Intuitive Surgical—FDA clears da Vinci 5 for selected cardiac procedures, including mitral valve repairda Vinci 5Intuitive Surgical—Q2 2026: 468 da Vinci placements including 246 da Vinci 5; installed base reaches 11,710
da Vinci 5
Photo: A.BourgeoisP · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens commons.wikimedia.org)

da Vinci 5

by Intuitive SurgicalUS

ScalingStage 5 of 5

Rolling out worldwide. 246 systems placed in Q2 2026 alone.

Updated 16 Jul 2026Checked 25 Sep0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · International rollout (Europe, Japan and others)
  1. Original da Vinci cleared by FDA2000Complete.
  2. da Vinci Xi cleared2014Complete.
  3. da Vinci 5 FDA 510(k) clearance14 Mar 2024Complete.
  4. Broad US launch2025Complete.
  5. International rollout (Europe, Japan and others)NowCurrent milestone.

Most important updates

Upcoming

  1. 20 Oct 2026Intuitive reports Q3 2026 results, including da Vinci 5 placementsin 10 days (next)

Current obstacles

  • Hospital budgetsSystems cost millions of dollars. Sales depend on hospital finances and leasing, especially outside the US.
  • Competition and pricingMedtronic, J&J and Chinese makers are entering the market, pushing on prices.

Physics limits

  • Instruments must fit through keyhole portsTools pass through ports about 8 mm wide. Wrists that small are driven by thin cables that stretch and wear, which limits grip force, stiffness and how well forces can be sensed at the tip.
  • Remote surgery is bounded by the speed of lightLight in fibre covers about 200 km per millisecond, so a surgeon 5,000 km away adds at least 50 ms round trip before any network delay. Surgical skill degrades as lag grows.
  • Cameras see only the surfaceThe endoscope shows the surface of tissue, not vessels or tumours beneath it, and organs shift and deform during surgery, so scans taken beforehand never line up exactly.

How it works

3 parts
Wristed instrument tips of an older da Vinci picking up small objects in a demo; da Vinci 5 uses the same kind of tools
Wristed instrument tips of an older da Vinci picking up small objects in a demo; da Vinci 5 uses the same kind of toolsPhoto: Staff Sgt. Bernardo Fuller · Public domain (opens commons.wikimedia.org)
Console

Surgeon console

The surgeon sees a 3D HD view and moves hand controls. Motions are scaled down and tremor filtered.

Arms

Patient-side arms

4 arms hold a 3D camera and wristed tools through small cuts, pivoting at the cut to avoid tearing tissue.

Haptics

Force feedback

Sensors in the tools measure force at the tip and push back on the surgeon's hands, restoring some sense of touch.

Spec sheet

vs da Vinci Xi
Specda Vinci 5da Vinci XiChange
Compute vs Xi~10,000xR (reported)——no comparable change
Q2 2026 placements246 systemsR (reported)180 (Q2 2025)▲ 66
da Vinci installed base (all)11,710 (Jun 2026)R (reported)10,488 (Jun 2025)▲ 1,222
HapticsForce-feedback instrumentsR (reported)——no comparable change
da Vinci procedure growth~15% y/y (Q2 2026)R (reported)——no comparable change

R reported by the company

Papers & demos

1 item
  1. Mar 2024demo
    da Vinci 5 with force-feedback instruments (opens intuitive.com)First da Vinci generation to feed tissue forces back to the surgeon.

Update log

5 updates

About Intuitive Surgical

The team behind da Vinci 5

Intuitive Surgical

da Vinci surgical robots, Ion lung biopsy

Intuitive Surgical makes da Vinci surgical robots and Ion, a robot for lung biopsies. It pioneered robotic surgery after FDA clearance in 2000 and had 11,710 da Vinci systems installed by June 2026. Most revenue comes from instruments and service.

  • The leader: 11,710 da Vinci systems installed as of June 30, 2026, up 12% in a year.
  • da Vinci 5 (FDA-cleared March 2024) was 246 of 468 system placements in Q2 2026.
  • Procedures drive the business: da Vinci procedures grew about 15% and Ion about 36% in Q2 2026.

intuitive.com (opens intuitive.com)Company profile →

Founded
199531 yrs
Headquarters
United States
Status
Public
Listed
ISRG (opens google.com)NASDAQ
Valuation
public
Works in
RoboticsSurgicalBiotech
Coverage
2 programs · 10 updateslatest 16 Jul 2026checked 25 Sep
Partners
US FDA (opens fda.gov)
People
Dave RosaCEOGary GuthartExecutive Chair
Primer