AI, machine learning, and robotics are fundamentally changing healthcare, says Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky. "One of the most exciting parts of my job right now is to see the technology that's usually equated with California and the West Coast," said Gorsky. "Whether it's AI, machine learning or robotics, you're seeing it more and more being integrated into healthcare." One of the most exciting parts of my job right now is to see the technology that's usually equated with California and the West Coast. Whether it's AI, machine learning or robotics, you're seeing it more and more being integrated into healthcare.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved the first medical robot from Auris Surgical, a stealthy startup led by the co-founder of industry leader Intuitive Surgical, makers of the widely-used da Vinci robot. The teleoperated ARES robot (the acronym stands for Auris Robotic Endoscopy System), was cleared by the FDA at the end of May, and could now be used for diagnosing and treating patients. Auris, which describes itself only as a "technology company based in Silicon Valley," was previously thought to be working on a robotic microsurgical system designed to remove cataracts, and the company has in fact filed several patent applications along those lines. However, an investigation by IEEE Spectrum suggests that the company has greater ambitions, including, according to current and former employees, "building the next generation of surgical robots… capable of expanding the applicability of robotics to a broad spectrum of medical procedures." A close reading of recent patent applications filed by Auris scientists shows that the company is focusing on so-called endolumenal (or endoluminal) surgery.