The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared non-force feedback instruments used with Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci 5 robot in cardiac procedures, the company’s CEO has said.
Dave Rosa announced the FDA clearance during a conference call following the release of the company’s Q4 2025 financials, stating that the non-force feedback instruments applied to “several cardiac procedures” on da Vinci 5.
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Key non-force instruments used with da Vinci 5 – the company’s flagship robot – include forceps, dissectors, and scissors.
“Given the complexity of minimally invasive cardiac surgery, we are planning a measured rollout to support training, education, and adoption,” Rosa said.
“We believe deeply that patients requiring cardiac surgery can benefit from a minimally invasive approach with da Vinci and look forward to actively supporting our customers through these procedures.”
Rosa shared that Intuitive is continuing to work on some “foundational aspects” for non-force feedback instruments in cardiac indications, with approval now being “worked through” in Europe and several other countries following their FDA approval.
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By GlobalData“Part of those indications will include force feedback instruments,” Rosa added.
Da Vinci 5 received FDA clearance in March 2024, becoming the first of Intuitive’s robots to introduce force technology, a provision that enables the system to measure, and for surgeons to feel, subtle forces exerted on tissue during surgery.
“Since cardiac surgery is a wide variety of procedures with a wide variety of tasks, we think that force feedback can have some benefit in certain parts of certain procedures, too,” Rosa added.
Intuitive achieved revenues of $2.87bn in Q4 2025, reflecting a 19% increase on $2.41bn in Q4 2024. These results were in line with Intuitive’s preliminary revenues for the quarter, as announced ahead of the company’s presentation at this year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on 14 January.
In a research note, William Blair analyst Brandon Vasquez noted that Intuitive’s earnings per shares came in at 12% ahead of Wall Street’s expectations, with this performance attributable to the “usual growth drivers” including general and a ramping up of Intuitive’s da Vinci 5 placements.
The Q4 results were announced after markets closed on 22 January. Intuitive’s shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange rose by around 0.8% to $530 per share at market open on 23 January, an uptick from $525.81 previously. Intuitive has a market cap of $189.08bn.
