Medical device and robotic surgery history is heading to the Smithsonian’s Natural Museum of American History, in the form of a 1989 prototype of Robodoc, an early orthopedic surgical robot.
The Robodoc device was created for use in hip and knee replacement surgeries, the Smithsonian said, and its donation came along with a wealth of archival material.
“We are grateful to be able to include Robodoc and related materials to the museum’s permanent collections. This donation supports our curators’ goal to explore innovative medical robotics in the advancing field of precision technology and engineering and to document the early history of medial robotics,” museum director John Gray said in a press release.
The device was the product of a collaborative development between IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center and the University of California that began in 1986, seeking to create a more precise device for joint replacement procedures.
In 1992, Robodoc became the 1st surgical robot to perform procedures in the U.S., using 3-D image-directed preoperative planning to more accurately execute difficult hip and knee arthroplasty procedures.
The device won FDA approval in 1998, and has been used in more than 28,000 procedures worldwide.
The 1989 prototype will become a permanent part of the Science and Medicine collection at the Smithsonian, but there are currently no plans for a display of the device.
