Buying guide
Ottava vs CORI in 2026
Comparing 2 humanoid robots across availability, pricing, capabilities, and verified deployments. Current as of 2026.
| Attribute | No image on file | No image on file |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Johnson & Johnson | Smith+Nephew |
| Form factor | surgical | surgical |
| Maturity | pilot | commercial |
| Availability | internal-onlyenterprise | internal-onlyenterprise |
| Price | Not announced | Not announced |
| Capability claims | — | — |
| Brain | — | — |
| Verified deployments | 1United States | 1United States |
| Privacy practices | — | — |
| Sources on file | 5 | 9 |
Editorial summaries
Ottava
J&J MedTech's Ottava is a soft-tissue general-surgery robotic platform with four arms integrated into the operating table, announced in 2020. It is pre-market: J&J submitted a De Novo request to the FDA in January 2026, and Ottava is not authorized to be marketed. DEPLOY classifies it research tier: J&J's corporate scale does not translate into verified surgical-robotics deployment, because the gating event (FDA clearance) has not occurred. By the framework, Ottava sits at the same research tier as far smaller pre-market entrants. There is no price; it is not sold.
CORI
Smith+Nephew's CORI Surgical System is a compact, surgeon-controlled handheld robotics platform for orthopedic knee surgery and the handheld, imageless archetype of the orthopedic sub-cohort. It is imageless (no pre-operative CT or MRI): the surgeon paints the joint surface intra-operatively to build a 3D bone model, then uses a handheld robotic bur whose cutting speed and exposure are robotically controlled to the surgical plan, with optical navigation. Its small footprint positions it for ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient ORs. It is AI-augmented but surgeon-controlled, not autonomous. A critical verified-vs-claimed distinction aggregators routinely blur: CORI's robotic burring is cleared for the knee only (total, partial/unicompartmental, and revision knee); its hip capability is navigation-only (RI.HIP NAVIGATION, cleared January 2022), not robotic burring. Made by Smith+Nephew (LSE: SN; NYSE: SNN). As enterprise B2B surgical equipment, there is no consumer price.
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