With the rapid development of social economy and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, the health awareness of the masses has been strengthened, and the contradiction between the existing medical system and the national medical needs has become increasingly prominent, which continues to promote the expansion of the mainland's demand for high-end medical industries and equipment such as medical robots.
First, the overview of medical robots
The development of medical robots can be traced back to 1985, when the neurosurgical biopsy operation completed by using industrial robot-assisted positioning, which first combined robotics with medicine, and since then opened a new era of medical robots. Medical robots are high-end medical devices, with high technical barriers, high entry thresholds, high added value and other characteristics. According to the application scenario, it can be divided into four categories: surgical robot, rehabilitation robot, service robot and auxiliary robot.
Chart: Classification of medical robots
Surgical robots are the most dominant category, accounting for about 37% of medical robots. Surgical robots can overcome human physiological limitations, with high operation accuracy, high operability, high operational stability characteristics are used as a high-precision requirement of minimally invasive surgery, bringing significant clinical benefits to patients. Depending on the type of surgery applied, surgical robots can be subdivided into neurosurgical robots, orthopedic robots, laparoscopic robots, and vascular interventional robots.
The current status of medical robot development
- The medical robot market is growing rapidly, and the Asia-Pacific region has become a new focus
With the development of digital healthcare, the global medical robots have developed rapidly and the market size has expanded rapidly. According to ifR data from the International Federation of Robotics, the global medical robot market size was $13.6 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $20.7 billion by 2021. Among them, surgical robots are the largest segment, according to PwC's forecast, the surgical robot market will reach $6.44 billion in 2021.
Chart: Global Medical Robotics Market Size Forecast Source: IFR Chart: Global Medical Robotics Market Size Forecast Data Source: IFR
Globally, North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific are the major markets for medical robotics. Among them, the North American market is more mature, followed by developed European countries, and the Asia-Pacific region is still in the initial stage due to its late development. Consistent with its advanced research level and relatively long research history, the proportion of medical robots used in North America is much higher than in other regions, with the US market accounting for 63% of the global medical device market in 2016, compared with 25% and 12% in Europe and Asia Pacific, respectively. In the case of the Da Vinci Surgical Robot, according to data from Intuition Surgery, the United States and Japan have 147 and 34 units per 20 million people. According to Fosun Pharma, at the end of 2019, the number of Da Vinci robots in China was 138, and the number of Da Vinci robots per 20 million people in the mainland was only about 2.
Chart: Global market share distribution of medical robots in 2016 Data source: Tianzhihang prospectus
As the development of medical robots in the US market gradually enters a mature period, the market focus gradually shifts to the Asia-Pacific region, and the installed capacity of medical robots and the number of surgeries undertaken in the Asia-Pacific region have grown rapidly. Among them, the mainland population base is large, the demand for the surgical market is large, and the medical robot started late and has a large growth space. Foreign robotics companies, including Intuitive Surgery, Medtronic's Mazor Robotics, and Zimmer Bangmei's MEDTECH Company, have all laid out the Chinese market. In addition to foreign mature products aimed at the Chinese market, the number of domestic robot startups has also increased significantly, from 2013 to 2016, more than 100 new medical robot startups were added, more than 40 companies were publicly disclosed for financing, and some listed companies, including minimally invasive medical, also expanded their business into the field of medical robots.
- Chinese medical robot companies are emerging
At this stage, the development of medical robots is led by American companies, followed by Germany, Japan, France and other countries. The Da Vinci surgical robot of Intuitive Surgical is a representative of surgical robots and occupies an absolute monopoly position in the industry. In the field of exoskeleton robots and telemedicine robots, Japan's Cyberdyne and Honda Robotics are at the forefront of the industry. In the field of dispensing robots and exoskeleton robots, German and Israeli companies have certain advantages.
Chart: Global installed distribution of da Vinci robotic systems Data source: Intuition Surgery website
Compared with developed countries, the mainland medical robot industry started late, although the number of companies in the field of domestic medical layout robots has increased rapidly, but most of them are in the early stage of development. Surgical robots and clinical contact is the closest, the highest precision requirements, so the highest technical barriers and may bring the greatest clinical benefits, attracting a large number of scientific research forces gathered here, many enterprises rely on the advanced technology achievements of scientific research institutes for industrialization, orthopedic robots, neurosurgical robots in the field of domestic brands have obtained medical device registration licenses, of which Tianzhihang's "Tianji" orthopedic robot in the domestic orthopedic robot market share of about 76.9% (according to the 2018 data rough calculation). Compared with surgical robots, the development of other segments is more preliminary, and most enterprises are still in the research and development stage: 90% of the rehabilitation robot market is imported products, and the domestic product market penetration rate is low; service robots are more initial, and the industry is still in the cultivation stage.
- Medical robots are an important part of the continent's industry 4.0 strategy
Since 2015, the state has issued a series of important policy documents to promote the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing, the medical field as an important field of people's livelihood, the support for the development and production of medical robots has also been the focus of major policy documents. The State Council clearly stated in the "Made in China 2025" and the "13th Five-Year Plan" and other planning guidance documents that it is necessary to focus on the development of high-performance diagnostic and treatment equipment such as medical robots and actively encourage the innovation of domestic medical devices. National ministries and local governments have given policy guidance on the establishment of medical robot testing and application platforms, the deployment of key projects in Industry 4.0, and the establishment of demonstration bases and standards for the robot industry, and the policy direction is clear.
Market outlook analysis
From the perspective of market conditions, by 2022, the total potential market for surgical robots in the world will reach 20 billion US dollars. Based on the current number of institutions and surgical volumes in China, the potential demand for multi-functional soft tissue surgical robots in the Chinese market exceeds 10,000 units; the demand for hard tissue surgical robots in clinical disciplines such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, and stomatology is also huge. By the end of 2019, there were less than 50 hospitals deploying surgical robots nationwide, less than 150 soft tissue surgical robots nationwide, and less than 50 hard tissue robots. The medical robot industry is driven by supply and demand in both directions, and the market prospect is very broad.
Source of the article: Ip Consulting