Rob Surgical’s Bitrack surgical robot is the eighth surgical robot in Europe and it is expected that, before the end of 2024, the first 10 units will be manufactured and installed in different hospitals in Europe. The project will grow to 50 units installed in 2025.
Surgical robots allow high-precision and less invasive interventions to be carried out, benefiting surgeons, patients and hospitals. In fact, the idea of the Bitrack was born at a conference with surgeons, uniting their vision with that of the engineering team.
One of the main contributions of the Bitrack surgical robot is to be able to universalize and democratize precision surgery, in addition to incorporating improvements at the time of the intervention. Currently, of all surgeries that could be done with a surgical robot, only 3% are performed.
Jaume Amat, CEO of Rob Surgical, argues the reason for this low use. “With current systems, when a hospital plans a surgery with a robot, it does everything with it, both the parts where it makes sense and those where it does not provide differential value. This makes robotics slow, expensive and inflexible.” Instead, Rob Surgical with its Bitrack robot proposes a precision tool for hybrid use, with which surgeons can combine manual tools with the robot for millimeter precision.
Bitrack allows us to expand the range of centers that can have access to surgical robotics, as well as the number of surgeries that can be performed with it.
The certification process is reaching its final stage after completing the first study with people and being in the process of the second. The project is very close to completing the clinical evaluation that will authorize the certification of the robot.
It is expected to have the Bitrack robot certified in mid-2024 and all the design characteristics will be delivered to the European Union to obtain the seal and begin manufacturing.
Production will take place in El Prat de Llobregat, Barcelona, and a “mini-plant” has already been built to begin the assembly and accessories process. In this way, marketing can begin as soon as certification is obtained.
With the aim of democratizing precision surgery, the marketing of the first 10 units will be carried out with a mix of hospitals that represent all types of centers.