Intuitive Surgical (ISRG, Financial) manufactures and markets the da Vinci Surgical System, a robotic surgical system consisting of a surgeon’s console, a patient-side cart, a high performance vision system and proprietary “wristed” instruments and surgical accessories. The da Vinci system seamlessly translates the surgeon’s natural hand movements on instrument controls at the console into corresponding micro-movements of instruments inserted into the patient through small puncture incisions or ports. The da Vinci provides the surgeon with the intuitive control, range of motion, fine tissue manipulation capability and 3-D vision characteristics of open surgery, while simultaneously allowing the surgeon to work through the small ports of minimally-invasive surgery. Patients treated with the da Vinci system benefit from improved clinical results, smaller incisions, fewer complications, less blood loss, less nerve damage, reduced pain and faster recovery compared with open surgery. The company is targeting four million annual surgical procedures worldwide and, we believe, this target is likely to increase over time. In 2016, roughly 750,000 procedures were performed using Intuitive’s robotic systems, implying substantial runway for growth.
From Baron Funds' Baron Opportunity Fund fourth quarter 2016 commentary.
