How Medical Robotics Will Boom in the Next 10 Years

Learn how medical robots will boom the medical industry in the next 10 years

The medical robotics business was more susceptible to economic downturns in 2022 than manufacturers of less expensive products because of more significant capital expenditures. However, because of the continued strength of the underlying demand, the robotic industry will expand until 2030. The surgical robots market size is expected to increase from US$9.6 billion in 2022 to US$18.8 billion in 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8%.

Due to the need for high-volume treatments, GlobalData anticipates that every medical robot market category will expand over the following ten years. Medical robots will be used by healthcare organizations more and more as a way to make up for staff shortages and raise the bar of care. Surgical robots shorten hospital stays, enhance patient outcomes, and lessen human error. Thanks to cloud computing and artificial intelligence, medical robots can work together and access enormous volumes of data without interruption. New types of surgical robots will open up new surgical options, such as using micro-robots to treat illnesses that are difficult to treat.

The robotic medical industry is increasing quickly following the decline in 2022, according to signals including M&A activity, patent filings, and hiring patterns. For instance, medical businesses engaged in 60 robotics-related deals in the past six months, following a fall in the number of such deals from 17 in 2019 to 13 in 2022, which reflected the poor macroeconomic climate. Deal value for robotics decreased from 2020 to 2022, falling by US$196.6 million, but is predicted to rise again in 2025.

The purchase of Spectrum Plastics Group and the merging of Globus Medical and NuVasive increased the year's overall deal value to more than US$5.5 billion. The medical industry's robotics M&A activity is primarily driven by three sectors: orthopedics, minimally invasive surgery, and imaging systems. Notably, top device manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Synthes and GE HealthCare consistently invest in new technologies and goods to expand their robotics product lines.

Robotic-related patent activity in the medical industry has steadily increased, going from 469 new awards in 2016 to 638 in 2022, according to GlobalData's Patent Analytics database. In 2023, the number of patents continues to rise by 55% in May compared to April. According to the number of applications, the leading assignee is Intuitive Surgical, a pioneer in medical robot helpers for less invasive surgical operations. The top five robotic patent holders are US-based device businesses except for CMR Surgical, a UK-based device company. Regarding robotic patents granted for medical equipment, the US is the top patent authority, followed by China and Japan. In terms of applications, the US also leads, which points to higher levels of innovation.

According to an investigation of GlobalData's Job Analytics database, over 3,600 new hires in the previous six months involved medical enterprises and were tied to robots. Initial job posting growth in the medical industry was 112% between Q1 2020 and Q3 2021. The dramatic rise in robotics employment in the healthcare industry may be attributed to the growing demand for robotic logistical solutions due to ongoing personnel shortages brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak. However, when corporations focused on other investments in 2021, growth slowed.