Dive Brief:
- Cornerstone Robotics this week said its Sentire surgical system received the European Union’s CE mark to perform minimally invasive procedures in general surgery, gynecology, thoracic surgery and urology.
- The Hong Kong-based company obtained the certification after partnering last year with Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust in the U.K. for a clinical trial to support adoption of the robot, Cornerstone said. The collaboration also covers training protocol development.
- The CE mark follows the closing of an approximately $200 million financing round in November intended to fund Cornerstone’s international expansion and continued technological development.
Dive Insight:
Cornerstone received approval for its robot from China’s National Medical Products Administration in September 2024 and raised more than $70 million in January 2025 to support its expansion in geographies including Europe and Southeast Asia.
The company, which has said its robot is used in hospitals across mainland China and Hong Kong, wants to make high-quality surgical care more accessible and efficient.
With the CE mark, Cornerstone will enter a European market where robotic systems makers such as Intuitive Surgical and more recently CMR Surgical, Distalmotion, Moon Surgical and Medtronic are competing in soft tissue surgery.
Cornerstone said it formally established a U.K. subsidiary in 2025 to create a center for professional training, clinical technical support and after-sales service.
The company has a total of three R&D hubs and six business centers worldwide and a 30,000-square-meter manufacturing facility in China.
