Chinese companies are developing homegrown surgical robots in an attempt to challenge the dominance of US-based Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci systems, as the government pushes to domesticize the medical industry, reports Nikkei Asia. "Our robot system will be for sale for general surgical use from June," said Wang Bingqiang, a general manager of Weigao Group's medical instrument division, referring to his company's robot-assisted laparoscopic surgical system.Weigao, headquartered in Weihai, Shandong province, became the first domestic company to obtain approval for a robot-assisted laparoscopic surgical system from Chinese health authorities in 2021. The company is continuing clinical research at hospitals and expects to certify the system for general surgery in early June."We currently have 20 units at hospitals for clinical research that are involved in a variety of surgeries, such as urological, liver and thoracic procedures," Wang said. (ICE PECHINO)

Fonte notizia: China Economic Review