Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

At the beginning of April, Brian Miller, PhD, former Head of Digital and AI Strategy and Chief Digital Officer at Intuitive Surgical, joined Santa Barbara, CA-based remote surgery start-up Sovato as its CEO. Sovato touts itself as being the only comprehensive solution enabling health systems to deploy and scale remote surgery and procedure programs. Miller will lead the company as it moves from early market development to commercialization over the next year. Since 2022, Sovato has raised $41M through Series B, advanced product development, and established partnerships with leading device companies and health systems. In 2024, the company announced the successful completion of a series of remote robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) procedures in a preclinical technology demonstration using its Sovato Platform. Performed on porcine models between Lincoln, NE, and Chicago, IL, seven surgeons across four specialties completed nephrectomy, hysterectomy, colectomy, and cholecystectomy procedures. At the end of 2025, Sovato closed its series B round , bringing its total funding to $41 million. Notable participants included founding investor Polaris Partners, Intuitive, GS Ventures, Laerdal Million Lives Fund, Puma Venture Capital, Teladoc Health, and other private investors. The funding is expected to accelerate development of Sovato’s platform and advance strategic partnerships with surgical robotics companies, healthcare providers, and ecosystem collaborators. During the span of his 25-year career before joining Sovato, Miller worked on the first FDA-cleared robotic systems at Computer Motion before joining Intuitive, where he shaped the company's digital evolution and helped launch its digital products and solutions. Miller sat down with MD+DI to discuss the future of remote surgery, how his experience at Intuitive Surgical informs his new position with Sovato, and how AI will revolutionize healthcare. You've described remote surgery as being on the same trajectory as robotic surgery—what specific market signals tell you this is the right moment to scale Sovato? Miller: Throughout my career, first and foremost, you have to make sure you are meeting a customer’s need and there is an actual problem to solve as you bring the technology and services to market. When you look broadly around the globe, you start to see variability in care. You have patients in one part of the country who do not get the same level of care as those in major metropolitan areas, and you also have a challenge with just healthcare workers and general access to quality care. I think when you start to look at that challenge, you’ll find it is only going to get worse over time. So there is a need and an opportunity to be able to take that expertise and bring it to patients where they are at, projecting it into locations and reaching patients where they need it. That is the fundamental point. There is technology, which has been proven and demonstrated. It was demonstrated 25 years ago with the first remote surgery case and then recently, demonstrated through telehealth and a range of applications that showed that the technology can be deployed and procedures can be done safely and effectively at a distance. Now, with healthcare challenges and variability in care, that justifies a point in time for healthcare systems to build remote care deliveries. What attracted you to Sovato specifically, and how does leading a pre-commercial company differ from your experience scaling established platforms at Intuitive? Miller: From a personal perspective, my reason for joining was that I was a young engineer in 2001 when the first telesurgery was done from New York to Straussburg. That was an experience within my first year that set the framework for how I thought about the technology and how it applied to improving healthcare. Many things had to occur over the years to make sure that the environment was right for remote intervention, and my strong belief is now is the time. It was a good time for me to transition over, to be able to continue to do a number of things that I had been doing in the past, but with a laser focus on enabling remote interventions to be secure, at scale, and high performing. I think from an established company to one that is just getting started, similarities include the need for a value proposition, but a key difference is defining a new delivery care model. At an established company, you continue to evolve and grow and it’s great, but you have a known product that has built clinical and economic value over time. Back at Intuitive, I was scaling known products into different geographies and applications. This new role is really coming back to where I started in 2000. You are really defining something brand new, working really closely with customers to understand how they can unlock value, how they can implement it at their healthcare systems, and those parts of the job really excite me. Sovato plans to launch its first remote procedure programs in early 2027—can you walk us through what that rollout will look like and which specialties or procedures you're prioritizing? Miller: The way that will be structured is by focusing on a handful of customers, the exact number has not been selected yet, where we can work closely together to build a remote care delivery program. When we say program, it requires the technology and the platform that Savato brings to be able to enable remote procedures. The big unlock for customers, from a value perspective, is how they will think about their care delivery models. How will they leverage the fact that they have experts in one location, and have enabled care for patients in outlying locations. A good example is an IDN, an integrated delivery network. A system might have their main hospital in the city, and some outlying hospitals in the suburbs and rural areas, and here they now have the opportunity to deliver care to a patient that in the past may have had to drive from where they live to visit a main hospital, but now they can stay in their home environment with their support structure and their families and an expert can remotely perform a procedure. Those are the types of things we are going to work through, understand best practices for, as our customers are building up their programs. And within that, there will be a number of use cases. The exciting part is, while telesurgery is the guiding principle, there are other use cases like remote diagnostics and other interventions that are compelling as well, and have the same structure of being able to leverage experts in one location but yet reach patients where they are at. So we will work through and understand where the highest patient value is for durable remote intervention. We are right in the middle of that, and the good news is there are a large number of use cases that we believe are compelling. We are working with our med device partners as they have started their journeys with devices being remotely enabled, so it’s exciting times, but we are in the thick of it and in the thick of finding out what is going to make sense. During your time at Intuitive, you led digital and AI strategy—how will those capabilities translate to Sovato's platform, and what role will AI play in remote procedure orchestration? Miller: There will be a few different ways AI will shape what we do at Sovato. Some of it is internal, where there will be a lot of value in applying AI to how we monitor the network and how we guarantee reliability. What we get really excited about is, if you project ahead I think this will happen in multiple interventions, but to take surgery as an example, one of the next big things will be combining robotic surgery systems with AI algorithms. You will have AI-enabled decision tools interoperatively, and while AI won’t do surgery autonomously, it will have autonomous tasks. AI will be able to help the surgeon more precisely, and that is the trajectory for robotic assisted surgery. One of the key elements that does not get discussed as much, but will be another critical part, is a secure, reliable, high-performing network link. To be able to train those algorithms and get them to learn and be at the quality they need to be at for healthcare, they need to be continuously trained and evolved. That will require the devices in hospitals to be connected to the internet and to Sovato’s platform for facilitation. It will also be critical for adoption. To use an analogy, when Waymo cars first hit the streets in San Francisco, one of the key elements was, as soon as the algorithm got confused, which it will, it was able to call back to a home office and get human intervention. When you start to think about these groundbreaking advancements in surgery when paired with AI, there is still going to be a strong need to reach an expert wherever they are within seconds if there is something the system cannot understand. It’s going to help enable it, because it will help with training and models, but also with adoption. I look at it as three legs of a stool to really make AI a viable way of the future, where you have robotic devices that are high performing, AI algorithms that will enable what I just discussed, and the Sovato platform, which will enable those necessary AI-human interactions. What lessons from scaling robotic surgery at Intuitive are directly applicable to building the remote procedure market, and where does this require a fundamentally different approach? Miller: Where it is similar, and quite frankly this is similar in a lot of product developments where you are doing complex things, is being able to go in and help the customer see the value in their own data. The reason for our initial program, and picking a handful of customers to work with, is we want to be able to activate the remote care program and measure the value so it's really clear how the hospital and the patients receiving care can create durable programs. That is what makes a strong and successful product. That's where there are similarities. At Intuitive, we created the concept of total cost to treat, so you were taking the full value that was being received into consideration. There is a similar concept with remote surgery and with our platform, coming down to total cost of care. If you look at it from a hospital system perspective, they can take into account that they can leverage a smaller number of experts and have that coverage across their entire healthcare system. Those are things that my work, and the work that was done at Intuitive, translate very nicely to with building this platform. I think maybe where it is different, but an exciting difference, is the Savato platform will be horizontal across the entire hospital enterprise. As I mentioned earlier, there’s going to be not just remote surgery, but remote ultrasound, remote telepathology, and a range of things in different parts of the hospital that are going to be enabled and going to provide value, so a little bit different in that we will be scaling alongside our robotic device partners that are creating this technology. Different than at Intuitive, where everything was driven by Intuitive. Looking 5-10 years out, what does success look like for Sovato? Miller: Success is that we have all of the top IDNs. I think there are a lot of similarities in what is trying to be solved for in the U.S. and globally—variability in care and access to experts. We have demonstrated successes, and we have IDNs that are leveraging the platform and are able to see the value in remote care delivery broadly across their healthcare systems. We will be able to spread that around the globe going forward. One of the cool parts is, once you get IDNs benefiting within their facilities, you can start to spread and share expertise around the globe. There have been situations that have existed in the past where surgeons from the U.S. are connecting to surgeons in Europe to be able to mentor them or teach them a new technique. If you imagine now that you could enable a remote procedure, not only could that individual connect, but they could also go in and potentially show them and perform part of the procedure remotely as they are teaching them. It helps within a healthcare system, but we are also creating a fully connected global platform where people can interact seamlessly and in an effective manner. That is the cool part. Within the time horizon you are talking about, we will see both of those things—healthcare systems benefitting substantially and a bunch of really meaningful and impactful interactions between healthcare systems around the globe for a range of use cases, from training all the way to collaborative surgery. Is there anything else you would like to expand on? Miller: I want to circle back on the question regarding AI and how it will play a role in all of this. I mentioned the three legged stool, but I think that is the part that will fundamentally change how surgery is done. I think it will apply to other interventions too, but I think that will be unbelievable. You have a situation where humans and robots can collaboratively perform a procedure. You have the benefit of the human brain, but also of robotic precision. As I mentioned, it will require a secure, high performing network, which is satisfied by the Sovato platform, to make that a reality.

HENDERSON, Nev., March 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Restore Robotics today announced it has received additional 510(k) clearances from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the remanufacturing of two more da Vinci Xi® robotic surgical instruments. This milestone expands Restore Robotics' growing portfolio of cleared instruments and further strengthens its position as a leader in robotic instrument remanufacturing. With these latest clearances, Restore Robotics continues to deliver on its mission to provide hospitals and surgery centers with cost-effective, high-quality, and sustainable alternatives to purchasing new robotic instruments from original equipment manufacturers. "These additional FDA clearances mark another major step forward in our effort to transform the economics of robotic surgery," said Clif Parker, CEO of Restore Robotics. "By expanding our remanufacturing capabilities across more high-utilization instruments, we are enabling healthcare providers to significantly reduce costs while maintaining the performance and reliability surgeons expect." Through its established partnership with Encore Medical Device Repair, Restore Robotics will continue to scale distribution of its remanufactured instruments nationwide. The expanded product offering allows hospitals to capture greater savings across a broader portion of their robotic instrument spend. Hospitals participating in the Restore Robotics remanufacturing program benefit from: Meaningful cost reductions versus OEM instruments Increased sustainability through instrument reuse Seamless integration into existing robotic surgery workflows "Expanding the number of remanufactured robotic instruments available to hospitals is a natural progression in advancing responsible healthcare," said Tom Milano, President and COO of Encore. "This continued collaboration represents a significant opportunity to improve both cost efficiency and environmental stewardship in surgical care." About Restore Robotics Restore Robotics is a pioneer in the surgical robotics field, focused on the remanufacturing of robotic surgical instruments. With a state-of-the-art facility in Henderson, Nevada, the company delivers innovative, FDA-cleared solutions that enhance affordability and sustainability in robotic-assisted surgery. About Encore Medical Device Repair Encore Medical Device Repair was founded on the principle that medical device reuse should play a central role in responsible healthcare. By focusing on high-value, high-utilization instruments, Encore delivers industry-leading service, quality, and cost savings to healthcare providers. Media Contact: Clif Parker CEO, Restore Robotics [email protected] 678-619-0011 Disclaimer: Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has granted approval under its contracts for Restore Robotics to remanufacture any EndoWrist that falls under the scope of any 510(k) clearance from the FDA. EndoWrist®, da Vinci®, da Vinci Xi®, and da Vinci Si® are registered trademarks of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. Restore Robotics is an independent entity and is not affiliated with Intuitive Surgical, Inc. or its affiliates. All registered trademarks and product names are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE Restore Robotics 21% more press release views with Request a Demo

Randomized IDE study met all primary and secondary safety and efficacy endpoints and demonstrated superior debris capture and significantly higher technical success versus the leading embolic protection control device in TAVR SANTA CRUZ, Calif., March 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Emboline, Inc., a privately held medical technology company developing embolic protection solutions for structural heart procedures, today announced positive results from its pivotal PROTECT H2H global clinical trial evaluating the Emboliner® Embolic Protection System in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The results were presented as a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session & Expo (ACC 2026) by Adam B. Greenbaum, MD. These findings support the potential for a new standard of embolic protection in TAVR and represent an important milestone in the company's path toward regulatory submission and commercialization. PROTECT H2H is the first randomized IDE trial of an embolic protection device in TAVR to meet all primary and secondary safety and efficacy endpoints, representing a significant clinical and regulatory achievement for the category. In addition, the study demonstrated superior debris capture and significantly higher technical success for Emboliner compared with the control device, despite all study operators having prior experience with only the control device and using Emboliner for the first time, underscoring the device's ease of adoption in real-world practice. The prospective, randomized, controlled pivotal study enrolled 522 patients with severe aortic stenosis who were suitable for TAVR and randomized them 1:1 to either Emboliner or the control device, Sentinel CPS (Boston Scientific). Enrollment began in May 2023, with final patient follow-up completed in December 2025. The study delivered a strong combination of clinical, procedural, and product performance outcomes across all key endpoints: Primary Endpoint: Combined safety and efficacy endpoint (30-day MACCE) was met, with Emboliner demonstrating statistical non-inferiority to control (4.5% vs. 5.0%; p for non-inferiority = 0.0004) Secondary safety/efficacy endpoint: (30-day stroke, VARC 2) was met, with Emboliner demonstrating statistical non-inferiority to control (2.0% vs. 2.1%; p for non-inferiority = 0.0001) Secondary efficacy endpoint: (debris capture, particles ≥ 150µm) was met, with Emboliner demonstrating statistical superiority to control (93 vs. 31; p < 0.0001) Technical success: significantly favored Emboliner (95.9% vs. 87.1%; p = 0.0005) No significant differences were observed between groups in access site injury or life-threatening or major bleeding Together, these findings demonstrate that Emboliner delivered comparable clinical safety outcomes while outperforming the control device on key measures of debris capture and procedural performance. "These results mark an important milestone for Emboline and support our belief that embolic protection in TAVR must address the full scope of embolic risk," said Scott Russell, President and CEO of Emboline. "We designed the Emboliner to capture and remove debris while integrating seamlessly into procedural workflow, and we believe this combination differentiates the technology in structural heart. We look forward to submitting the study data for consideration of regulatory approval." Unlike embolic protection devices which are designed to protect only select cerebral vessels, Emboliner is designed to provide full cerebral and systemic embolic protection, capturing and removing debris that may otherwise embolize to the brain and peripheral organs during structural heart intervention. "The randomized data from the PROTECT H2H trial presented at ACC represent an important milestone for embolic protection in TAVR," said Tamim Nazif, MD, Director of Clinical Research in Cardiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Co-Principal Investigator for the PROTECT H2H study. "The liberation of embolic debris is ubiquitous in TAVR procedures, and these results support the safety and efficacy of a more comprehensive protection solution with the Emboliner. Importantly, the study also demonstrated the ease of use and high procedural success rates that are important in facilitating physician adoption of new devices." "As TAVR expands across broader and more complex patient populations, we see embolic protection becoming increasingly important." said Adam B. Greenbaum, Associate Professor of Medicine, Co-director of the Emory Structural Heart and Valve Center at Emory University Medical Center, Investigator for the PROTECT H2H study at Emory and presenter of the late-breaking clinical study data at ACC 2026. "What is compelling about these data is how they support a more comprehensive embolic protection approach, particularly as we think about broader use in structural heart and transcatheter procedures with even greater embolic burden than routine TAVR." With pivotal data now presented, Emboline is advancing toward regulatory submission and preparing for commercialization. About Emboline Emboline, Inc. is a privately held medical technology company based in Santa Cruz, California, focused on developing technologies designed to reduce embolic complications during transcatheter cardiovascular procedures. The company's lead product, the Emboliner® Embolic Protection System, is designed to provide full cerebral and systemic embolic protection by capturing and removing debris that may be released during structural heart interventions and that could otherwise travel to the brain and other vital organs. Emboline's technologies are derived from intellectual property invented by serial medical device entrepreneur Amir Belson, MD, founder of NeoGuide Systems, Vascular Pathways, ZipLine Medical, Venocare, Radiaction, Modular Surgical, and Follisave. The Emboliner® device is currently investigational and is not available for commercial sale. For more information, visit emboline.com. Media & Investor Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Emboline, Inc. 21% more press release views with Request a Demo