Buying guide

da Vinci (and Ion)

Price: $1,800,000-$2,500,000· analyst estimate
Availability: Internal use only (not for retail).
Maturity: production
Real-world use: Yes, 13 verified deployments

Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci is the gold-standard surgical robot and the verified-at-scale anchor of the category. Per Intuitive's SEC filings, 11,395 da Vinci systems and 1,041 Ion endoluminal systems are installed. The lineup spans da Vinci multi-port (X/Xi), the single-port SP, and the fifth-generation da Vinci 5 (FDA cleared March 2024, with force feedback), plus the Ion bronchoscopy robot (FDA 2019). It is teleoperated, a surgeon controls every motion, with shipped analytics AI; autonomous-suturing work exists only as research demos on da Vinci hardware, not as shipped product. It is enterprise B2B equipment sold to hospitals at multi-million-dollar per-system prices; there is no consumer price.

Readiness

da Vinci (and Ion) is internal use only (not for retail) at $1,800,000-$2,500,000 (analyst estimate) or $1,500,000-$2,500,000 (actual sale price), the 1 capability claim on file is all teleoperated-assisted with verified, 13 verified deployments are on file, and 51 incidents are on record.

Availability

internal-only

Internal use only (not for retail).

see evidence →

Price honesty

actual-sale-price

2 prices on file: $1,800,000-$2,500,000 (analyst estimate), $1,500,000-$2,500,000 (actual sale price).

see evidence →

Capability honesty

teleoperated-assisted

1 reviewed claim: teleoperated-assisted, verified.

see evidence →

Real-world use

production

Maturity: production. 13 verified deployments in the registry.

see evidence →

Safety record

incidents-on-file

51 incidents on record across 13 verified deployments.

see evidence →

What it claims to do

Assists surgeryteleoperated-assisted· verifiedevidence ↗

Price

$1,800,000-$2,500,000analyst estimate · How Much is a Surgical Robot? (2025 Edition) — R2 Surgical / MassDEVICE da Vinci 5 launch ↗ · as of 2024-03-01
$1,500,000-$2,500,000actual sale price · Intuitive Surgical da Vinci Xi system — capital equipment unit price $1.5M–$2.5M per system, as documented in multiple hospital procurement analyses and Intuitive Surgical SEC 10-K annual reports (CIK 1035267). In fiscal 2023, Intuitive placed 1,370 da Vinci systems globally; total capital equipment revenue per filing implies per-system ASP in this range. Additionally documented in peer-reviewed surgical economics literature (JAMA, Annals of Surgery) and hospital capital budget disclosures. ↗ · as of 2023-01-01

Real-world use

Hong Kong, China operated by Intuitive Surgical2025-09-01
US Hospitals (nationwide) operated by Intuitive Surgical2025-07-01
Spain operated by Intuitive Surgical2025-06-01
United States operated by Intuitive Surgical2024-12-01
United States operated by Intuitive Surgical2024-08-01
South Korea operated by Intuitive Surgical2024-06-01
Tampa, Florida, USA operated by Intuitive Surgical2024-06-01
United States operated by Intuitive Surgical2024-04-01
Japan (JGSDF Trials) operated by Intuitive Surgical2009-01-01
China operated by Intuitive Surgical2007-01-01
European Union operated by Intuitive Surgical2001-01-01
Global (multiple sites) operated by Intuitive Surgical2000-07-01
United States operated by Intuitive Surgical2000-01-01

Safety record

Privacy

No privacy practices disclosed or on file for da Vinci (and Ion).

Specs

dof: 7
notes: Verified (production anchor): Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG; founded 1995, Sunnyvale CA) is the dominant incumbent and the verified gold standard. VERIFIED installed base (SEC 10-Q, 3/31/2026): 11,395 da Vinci systems (+12% YoY), of which 1,464 are da Vinci 5; plus 1,041 Ion systems (+22% YoY). Q1 2026 procedures +17% worldwide; 431 da Vinci placed (232 of them da Vinci 5). da Vinci 5 FDA-cleared Mar 14 2024; Ion FDA-cleared Feb 2019.
Axis-extension framing: Surgical robotics is physical AI operating in the MEDICAL regulatory regime. FDA clearance is the verified gating event for maturity. Intuitive clears it across multiple platforms + generations -> production.
AI-substance: teleop baseline + shipped analytics AI; autonomy demo-only: da Vinci is master-slave teleoperated. SHIPPED AI: Case Insights (AI analysis of system/kinematics/video for surgeon performance) and machine-vision interface features; Force Feedback is a shipped sensing feature (not autonomy). Autonomous suturing/tissue-lifting via VLMs (Johns Hopkins/Stanford) are RESEARCH demonstrations on da Vinci hardware, NOT shipped. 4,000-mile telesurgery is investigational/in-development.
Claimed but NOT verified: '43% less force' is a preclinical/marketing figure, not an outcomes-verified clinical result. The 1,464 da Vinci 5 subfigure is company-reported (corroborated, model-level breakout).
products: da Vinci multi-port (X / Xi), da Vinci SP single-port, da Vinci 5 (5th-gen, FDA 510(k) Mar 14 2024, Force Feedback), and Ion endoluminal robotic bronchoscopy (FDA Feb 2019).
height_cm: 175.3
weight_kg: 544
formFactor: surgical (teleoperated master-slave multi-port + single-port surgical robot; + endoluminal robotic bronchoscopy)
fda_clearance: da Vinci 5 FDA 510(k) cleared March 14, 2024; Ion FDA cleared February 2019
clearance_body: FDA

What's under the hood

No brain on file for da Vinci (and Ion).

Frequently asked questions

Is the da Vinci (and Ion) actually available for purchase?

Not available to consumers. In internal use by Intuitive Surgical.Source: Intuitive Form 10-Q (Q1 2026): 11,395 da Vinci installed (1,464 da Vinci 5); 1,041 Ion

What does the da Vinci (and Ion) cost?

da Vinci (and Ion) has 2 prices on file: $1,800,000-$2,500,000 one-time (analyst estimate) and $1,500,000-$2,500,000 one-time (actual sale price).Sources: How Much is a Surgical Robot? (2025 Edition) — R2 Surgical / MassDEVICE da Vinci 5 launch, Intuitive Surgical da Vinci Xi system — capital equipment unit price $1.5M–$2.5M per system, as documented in multiple hospital procurement analyses and Intuitive Surgical SEC 10-K annual reports (CIK 1035267). In fiscal 2023, Intuitive placed 1,370 da Vinci systems globally; total capital equipment revenue per filing implies per-system ASP in this range. Additionally documented in peer-reviewed surgical economics literature (JAMA, Annals of Surgery) and hospital capital budget disclosures.

Does the da Vinci (and Ion) really assists surgery?

Verified at teleoperator-assisted autonomy; not fully autonomous.Sources: da Vinci Surgical System -- Intuitive Surgical product page; multi-arm robotic-assisted surgical platform used in prostatectomy, hysterectomy, and other minimally invasive procedures; surgeon controls instrument arms from a console, Intuitive Surgical IR -- public company NASDAQ: ISRG; Q4 2023 earnings reported more than 8,500 da Vinci systems installed worldwide; over 10 million procedures performed to date

Where is the da Vinci (and Ion) being used?

da Vinci (and Ion) is in use at: Hong Kong, China operated by Intuitive Surgical (2025-09-01), US Hospitals (nationwide) operated by Intuitive Surgical (2025-07-01), Spain operated by Intuitive Surgical (2025-06-01), United States operated by Intuitive Surgical (2024-12-01), and United States operated by Intuitive Surgical (2024-08-01), plus 8 more.Source: Hong Kong Installs da Vinci 5 Surgical System

Is the da Vinci (and Ion) safe?

Incidents on record: 51 (44 recall, 2 other, 4 regulatory_action, 1 fatality). See Intuitive Surgical recalls da Vinci SP1098 instrument.Source: Intuitive Surgical recalls da Vinci SP1098 instrument

How does the da Vinci (and Ion) handle privacy?

No privacy practices disclosed or on file for da Vinci (and Ion).

Who makes the da Vinci (and Ion)?

da Vinci (and Ion) is made by Intuitive Surgical, based in Sunnyvale, California, USA.Source: Intuitive Form 10-Q (Q1 2026): 11,395 da Vinci installed (1,464 da Vinci 5); 1,041 Ion

Video

PRIMARY SOURCE

Courtesy of Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical's look at single-incision surgery with the da Vinci SP single-port system. Surgeon-controlled from a master console, never autonomous; the single-incision indications are the SP's cleared procedures.

PRIMARY SOURCE

Courtesy of Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical's overview of the da Vinci SP single-port system, which passes three wristed instruments and a camera through a single cannula. Surgeon-teleoperated, never autonomous.

PRIMARY SOURCE

Courtesy of Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical's introduction of the da Vinci Xi, a multi-port surgeon-teleoperated robotic surgery system. A surgeon operates it from a master console; it is never autonomous.