The FDA cleared Levita Magnetics’ new abdominal surgery platform, which combines the company’s proprietary magnetic surgical technology with robotic assistance. The system is designed to deliver all the same patient benefits as its original magnetic surgery system — such as reduced incisions, less pain, fewer scars and speedier recovery — while also giving surgeons better control of their instruments.

Moon Surgical recently raised $55.5 million for its robotic surgical assistant, which has earned regulatory clearance in the U.S. and European Union. The startup also appointed Fred Moll, founder of Intuitive Surgical and Auris Health, as independent chair of its board.

Medical robotics startup Noah Medical recently closed a $150 million Series B funding round. The company’s robotic platform, called the Galaxy System, was designed to help physicians find, biopsy and diagnose lung cancer lesions with more ease and confidence.

The goal is not to enable a robot to perform complex surgeries without human involvement. But using surgical robotics to democratize access to quality care to underserved communities is an outcome that we can achieve and which the world needs.

The ultimate value that robotics data will provide is in improving outcomes through better recording of process, approach, measurements and outcomes data.

The latest report from Accenture, which claims the health AI market will hit $6.6 billion by 2021, also highlights which AI applications will have the biggest near-term impact in healthcare.

Imagine this scenario: A surgeon is set to suture pieces of soft tissue on a patient, but instead of doing the whole procedure by himself, he turns to a surgical robot for assistance.