- Telerobotic surgery is moving from isolated demonstrations toward broader clinical and regulatory development, a recent article reads.
- SS Innovations CEO Dr. Sudhir Srivastava told MedTech Dive that robotic surgery is inherently a form of teleoperation and that the central technical question is how much distance can be introduced without compromising responsiveness.
- The company reported 195 robotic telesurgeries using its SSi Mantra system as of Sept 28, 2026, including cardiac procedures and long-distance operations.
- The company’s installed base reached 244 SSi Mantra systems as of September 28, up 45% from the end of 2025, while cumulative procedures reached 14,503.
- SSi Mantra has expanded into 12 countries, with recent cardiac-surgery programs launched in Colombia and Sri Lanka and a new program established at HCG Hospital in Ahmedabad.
- SS Innovations is currently pursuing U.S. FDA clearance and European Union CE marking as it seeks to expand the system into additional international markets.
The growing interest in telerobotic surgery is putting SS Innovations International (NASDAQ: SSII) and its founder and CEO, cardiac surgeon Dr. Sudhir Srivastava, in an increasingly relevant part of the surgical robotics market. A recent MedTech Dive report, “Telerobotic surgery is advancing around the world. Will the US embrace it?,” examined the technology’s development and the regulatory and infrastructure questions surrounding remote surgery. The article highlighted SS Innovations alongside larger medical-device companies and emerging robotics developers (https://ibn.fm/4ZLvL).
For SS Innovations, the discussion comes as its SSi Mantra system is accumulating experience in telesurgery while the company expands its broader robotic surgery footprint.
Srivastava told MedTech Dive that robotic surgery itself can be viewed as teleoperation because the surgeon already works from a console away from the patient, controlling instruments through robotic arms.
The more difficult question concerns distance. “There will always be some delay,” Srivastava said, citing digital processing of video and hand signals. The issue, he said, is determining how far a surgeon can be from the patient while maintaining the required level of responsiveness.
That question is becoming more practical as communications networks and surgical robotics improve. Telerobotic surgery remains an early-stage application. MedTech Dive cited an estimate that roughly 5,000 remote surgeries have been performed globally to date, compared with more than 20 million procedures performed using Intuitive’s robotic systems since their introduction.
The article also pointed to several developments indicating growing institutional interest. In the United States, more than half of Americans live more than an hour from a stroke center capable of performing thrombectomy, according to ARPA-H. The agency has awarded up to $175.3 million to a group of universities and companies, including Siemens Healthineers and Philips, to develop robots capable of supporting long-distance stroke procedures.
Yet no surgical robot is currently authorized in the U.S. specifically for remote procedures. That regulatory gap contrasts with developments in other markets, including India and China. SS Innovations received expanded approval in India for teleproctoring and telesurgery in November 2024 and has also received approval for telesurgery in Indonesia and the Philippines.
The company’s approach encompasses both remote surgical assistance and fully remote procedures. Teleproctoring allows an experienced surgeon to provide guidance to another surgical team without traveling, while telesurgery takes the concept further by allowing the remote surgeon to control the robotic system.
The company’s recent operating figures provide context for its position in the field. SS Innovations reported 244 SSi Mantra systems installed as of September 28, compared with 168 at the end of 2025. That represents a 45% increase in the installed base.
Cumulative procedures reached 14,503, up from 7,885 at the end of 2025. SS Innovations also reported that approximately 1,500 physicians had been trained on SSi Mantra, which has been used in more than 188 validated surgical procedures.
Telesurgery is one component of that activity rather than the company’s primary source of business. As of August 31, SS Innovations reported 188 robotic telesurgeries using SSi Mantra. Among them have been procedures covering substantial geographic distances. One July operation connected surgeons at Hospital Internacional de Colombia in Bucaramanga with a patient at Mohak Bariatrics and Robotics in Indore, India, across more than 13,600 miles of fiber-network distance.
In September, SSi Mantra was also used for what the company described as the first telesurgery within the Philippines, connecting Pampanga and Cotabato across approximately 1,710 kilometers. The company has reported more than 25 cardiac telesurgeries using SSi Mantra. Srivastava himself performed a cardiac telesurgery between Guyana and India in May.
The developments in telesurgery are occurring alongside a broader expansion of SSi Mantra in conventional robotic surgery. In July, SS Innovations launched a robotic cardiac surgery program at La Fundación Cardiovascular de Colombia. The program included Colombia’s first Totally Endoscopic Beating-Heart Bypass Surgery using SSi Mantra.
In August, Kings Hospital Colombo installed the first SSi Mantra system in Sri Lanka. The hospital subsequently performed the country’s first robotic-assisted cardiac surgery with the platform and more than 25 additional robotic procedures during the system’s first three weeks.
On September 24, SS Innovations announced the launch of another robotic cardiac surgery program at HCG Hospital in Ahmedabad, India. The program began with a robotic left internal mammary artery take-down performed by Dr. Brajmohan Singh and proctored by Dr. Lalit Malik.
The geographic expansion now extends the SSi Mantra installed base to 12 countries.
The system itself is designed as a modular platform with three to five robotic arms, 3D 4K visualization and more than 40 types of robotic endosurgical instruments. The company’s portfolio also includes SSi Mudra instruments and the portable MantrAsana tele-surgeon console.
The U.S. market represents an important potential expansion opportunity, but it also presents a regulatory hurdle. SS Innovations submitted its SSi Mantra 510(k) premarket notification to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2025. The company expects the FDA review to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2027. It is also pursuing European Union CE marking, which it expects by the end of 2026.
The MedTech Dive report underscores why those milestones matter. Intuitive, Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson are developing connected surgical capabilities, while newer companies are pursuing remote procedures for applications such as stroke treatment.
But the article also highlighted unresolved issues involving surgeon credentialing, licensing, reimbursement, network reliability and contingency planning if communications are interrupted.
For SS Innovations, the existing telesurgery record provides a clinical foundation as those questions are worked through. Srivastava told MedTech Dive that rural populations face access problems across countries and that patients may need time to become comfortable with the idea of receiving surgery from a physician working remotely.
The company has already demonstrated that the technology can support procedures across significant distances. Its next challenge is translating those demonstrations and its expanding robotic installed base into a broader, regulated market as the industry determines how telerobotic surgery can be deployed safely and consistently.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.SSInnovations.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SSII are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/SSII
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