Chan Urges Wider Access to Surgical Robotics
Hong Kong's financial secretary called on the industry to make robotic surgery affordable beyond the best-resourced hospitals, as penetration remains below five percent globally.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Robotics
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Financial Secretary Paul Chan urged the surgical robotics industry to widen access to care at the inaugural Surgical Futures Forum organised by Cornerstone Robotics on November 9, 2026. Global penetration of surgical robotics remains below five percent.
Why it matters
Design and cost remain major barriers, and today's mainstream systems are built for the best-resourced hospitals. Chan's remarks frame Hong Kong as a base for patient capital, regulation, clinical data and cross-boundary trials that could help extend the technology more broadly.
Surgical robotics penetration remains below five percent globally, according to figures cited at the forum. Medtronic's roughly US$700 million investment in Cornerstone Robotics was announced alongside distribution rights for its surgical system in selected international markets, with the timing and scope of rollout not yet detailed.
The players
Paul Chan
Paul Chan is the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, responsible for the territory's fiscal policy and economic planning.
Medtronic
Medtronic is a global medical technology company known for its surgical devices and robotic-assisted surgery systems.
Cornerstone Robotics
Cornerstone Robotics is a Hong Kong-based surgical robotics developer whose platform is being installed at training centres abroad.
The details
At the forum, Chan pitched Hong Kong as an end-to-end support system spanning patient capital, biotech fundraising, regulation, clinical data and cross-boundary trials. A Hong Kong-developed robotic platform is already installed at a leading surgical training centre in Strasbourg, France.
Timeline
September 2026: Medtronic announces its investment in Cornerstone Robotics.
November 9, 2026: Chan speaks at the inaugural Surgical Futures Forum.
The Tech Race
Medtronic's Hugo platform and similar robotic systems are designed for large, well-resourced hospitals, which has kept surgical robotics adoption narrow. Cornerstone's backing from Medtronic positions a Hong Kong platform as a challenger aimed at expanding access beyond those institutions.
If wider access materialises, patients at hospitals without large capital budgets could eventually be offered robot-assisted procedures. For now, the systems described remain concentrated in well-resourced institutions and training centres, so the practical effect on everyday patients is still limited.
The takeaway
Lower cost, smaller footprints and simpler training are the levers that will decide whether surgical robotics moves beyond elite hospitals. Watching how the Medtronic and Cornerstone partnership prices its system in new markets will show whether those levers are being pulled.
Further reading
For broader context on how automation is reaching clinical settings, see the Robotics section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Rthk.
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