Every claim we publish is checked against the primary source: FDA filings, peer reviewed studies, official filings, not press coverage.
The Evidence Library
What's actually true about AI, autonomy, and surgical robotics?
Autonomy
Four robots claim "autonomous." Here's where each one sits.
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AI
Five FDA-cleared systems. What's cleared or marketing.
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Registry
Nine robots mapped across six levels of autonomy.
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Roadmap
Intuitive's five-layer autonomy roadmap, audited layer by layer.
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Built for people who need to understand the technology, not just follow the headlines.
Surgical AI moves quickly. Company announcements, FDA clearances and technical capabilities don't always tell the same story.
NextInSurgery reports turn fragmented information into structured, usable intelligence.
The Surgical Autonomy Ladder
The Framework
Six levels, from simple assistance to independent decision making. Here's where nine real systems actually sit today, and how far the frontier still has to go.
05
04
03
02
01
00
Full Autonomy
No systems available today
High Autonomy
Executes a task, surgeon watches
Conditional Autonomy
Plans a step, surgeon approves
Task Autonomy
Automates one motion, under control
Robot Assistance
Filters and steadies the surgeon's hand
No Autonomy
Direct manual control, no filtering
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