
The miracles of science, technology, and healthcare have all converged in the form of robotic surgery over the past few years. It is not that doctors are being replaced by robots, but rather, precise and extremely tiny surgical procedures are being undertaken with the use of robotic surgical tools.
The increased use of robotic surgery is providing patients with robot-assisted minimally invasive procedures for a wide range of conditions. These computer assisted surgeries usually require several small incisions which provide for a minimally invasive surgery. These operations are much safer and result in less recuperation time for patients than those types of procedures previously performed without computer-aided robotic equipment.
Of course, as this type of surgery becomes more prevalent and robotics become smaller in scope, the need for parts that are smaller and have tighter tolerances will increase. This complexity of parts, their microscopic size and need for precision require the type of manufacturing that Swiss Precision Machining, LLC does every day. Precisely machined small parts of intricate and complex shapes from a variety of materials such as stainless steel, aluminum, brass, steel, nitronic 60, titanium, bronze, and plastic among others. Accommodating component diameters up to .7875″, and machining in hardened states, while holding tight tolerances of ±0.0001″ will be vital for a manufacturer to be a partner in this new technology.
As robotic surgery continues to become one of the fastest-growing segments of the medical device industry, the demand for this type of manufacturing will require OEM suppliers to provide parts that are precise and intricate. And as the acceptance of minimally invasive computer-aided surgery amongst baby boomers increases this will also bolster industry demand for quality parts and components. IBIS World reported that the market in 2011 for medical manufacturing these types of machines stood at $2 billion with an estimated annual growth rate of 30.7 percent. That revenue and growth is projected to increase at an average annual rate of 14.9% to $4.2 billion in the next five years.