The Latest in IT Security

The FDA has just improved the fortunes of a lot of sick patients (and one lucky tech company) by approving one little robot that can help perform surgeries more efficiently. The da Vinci Xi System is the most advanced surgical robot on the market, and the fourth version of the product for the brand. The da Vinci Xi System costs a pretty penny, ranging from $1.85 million to $2.3 million per hospital. It is being marketed to surgeons who specialize in complex procedures, but is designed to perform “minimally invasive procedures like prostate surgery.” The robot is, in some sense, an equalizer of surgeon expertise: “Some of the complex surgeries now done by a smaller group of [surgeons] can be done by a larger group of [surgeons] because of the ease of use,” said Salvatore J. Brogna, senior vice president for product development at Intuitive Surgical, Inc. This particular robot does something no other surgical robot has been able to: move around the body.