ZEUS Robot

ZEUS Robot

The ZEUS Robotic Surgical System was a medical robot designed to assist in surgery, originally produced by the American robotics company Computer Motion. It was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration in 1994 to assist surgeons in minimally invasive surgery. ZEUS had three robotic arms, which were remotely controlled by the surgeon. The first arm, AESOP (Automated Endoscopic System for Optimal Positioning), was a voice-activated endoscope, allowing the surgeon to see inside the patient’s body. The other two robotic arms acted like extensions of the surgeon’s own arms, mimicking the surgeon’s movements and also allowing for more precise executions of the surgeon’s commands. ZEUS was discontinued in 2003, following the merger of Computer Motion with its rival Intuitive Surgical; the merged company instead developed the Da Vinci Surgical System.