Distalmotion wants to solve healthcare’s biggest problems. It’s starting with ASCs

A decade ago, ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) performed more than half of all outpatient surgeries. Since then, the volume of procedures performed at ASCs has grown by an average of 6% each year, and there are no signs of slowing down.

ASC outpatient facilities are forecast to grow 9% in volume between 2023 and 2028, higher than the expected 7% growth in hospital outpatient department volumes, according to a Colliers report, and to generate $57 billion in revenue by 2030.

As medtech innovation pushes the boundaries of minimally invasive technology and evolves to address payers’ increasing demand for cost-efficient care, low-acuity procedures have migrated from hospitals to ambulatory centers and unlocked an industry of opportunity for soft-tissue surgical robotics companies. 

But, there’s a problem: financial constraints and limited clinical space restrict ASCs’ access to most commercially available surgical robotics systems. Swiss surgical robotics company Distalmotion aims to solve this problem with its Dexter surgical robotics system, designed for ambulatory surgical center environments. 

“We’re solving access…there are a lot of robots that are going to serve high acuity cases in the hospital, and we do that,” Distalmotion CEO Greg Roche said on a recent DeviceTalks Weekly podcast. “But our focus is to create access where you can’t have it normally with traditional systems. We feel it’s a bit of a blue ocean for us.”

Find out more about Distalmotion and 72 other surgical robotics companies in the MassDevice Surgical Robotics Special Report. Download it for free here. 

Solving the space problem

The world doesn’t necessarily need more robots, Roche said, it needs purpose-built robots that solve big problems. Distalmotion focused first on solving ASC’s physical barriers.

The majority of Medicare-certified ASCs have one to two operating rooms per facility, according to ASC Data in 2025. A single operating room hosts an average of 1,104 cases per year, in addition to the average procedure room caseload of 1,357 annual cases per room. (Procedure rooms could also serve as a sterile environment for minimally invasive surgeries.)

In high-volume ASCs, there’s often no dedicated room large enough to accommodate commercially available surgical robots, and moving and prepping large robotic systems for the next surgery disrupts efficiency.

“It’s just not enough space,” Roche said. “Because you have the tower, the console, the robot itself — it’s a lot of space. We free that up.”

Distalmotion’s modular robotic surgery system Dexter was designed to increase efficiency through its mobility and flexibility elements. The system consists of two small instrument arm carts, an endoscopic arm cart and an open sterile surgeon console. Roche called the system “minimalistic” but highly mobile, able to move through a standard door frame.

Roche said Dexter’s mobility could drive efficiency relative to volume with a concept he called, “flip room robotics.”

“You can be performing a hernia surgery and when you’re done using the robot, and the patient’s coming out of anesthesia, that robot can be moved.” Roche said. “You’re moving that robot away and now, to the next room.”

Dexter’s sterile draped console and compatibility with single-use instruments also minimize the need for advanced sterilization between procedures, cutting costs for ASCs and improving efficiency.

Designed for flexibility, integration

Distalmotion’s surgeon console differs from its closed-console competitors. In Dexter-assisted procedures, the surgeon and the open console are in the sterile field.

“We felt from a safety perspective, and from an efficacy perspective, that the ability for the surgeon to be able to touch the patient, not sit at a console across the room, was important,” Roche said. “It also allows them to choose how they want to approach that particular surgery.”

Since the surgeon is already in the sterile field, they can easily switch between laparoscopic and robotic techniques without redocking.

“Our approach is one of allowing the surgeon to choose the ecosystem that they present to that patient for that particular procedure,” Roche said. “We’re not dictating the ecosystem.”

Distalmotion designed Dexter with simplicity to give surgeons and ASCs flexibility to integrate imaging, instruments and surgical tools that best align with their clinical and economic ecosystems. 

Distalmotion offers five surgical fully-wristed instruments that could be used with its system but Dexter is compatible with advanced instruments and energy systems manufactured by outside companies. 

“Part of our value proposition is keeping it very simple,” Roche said. “That allows people to integrate in a much easier fashion. The more you complicate, the harder it is.”

Challenging financial barriers

Distalmotion’s simplistic robotic design allows for flexibility in how the system is used, enabling the company to pursue a wide range of indications — more procedures mean more profit for ASCs.

As of March 2026, Dexter has been FDA-approved for use in inguinal hernia repair, cholecystectomy and hysterectomy, all commonly performed soft tissue procedures at ASCs.

“[These indications] represent about two and a half million procedures total in the U.S.,” Roche said. “That gets us enough substance to really build a financial proposition for an ASC that makes sense.”

Distalmotion entered the surgical robotics market determined to bring surgical robots to ASCs. It recognized economic and clinical problems that barred ASCs from accessing surgical robotic systems and designed its system to solve ambulatory surgical centers’ biggest problems.

“When you look at some of the competitive technologies, they may solve one or two of those things, but not all,” Roche said. “You can have a system that’s mobile, but if it’s $2 million, it’s going to be very difficult to implement that into an ASC.”

DeviceTalks Editorial Director Tom Salemi contributed to this report.