Virtuoso Surgical

Virtuoso Surgical is a Nashville, Tennessee medical device company developing a robotic system for endoscopic surgery, spun out of Vanderbilt University and founded in 2016 by urologic surgeon S. Duke Herrell, MD and engineer Richard Hendrick. Its system deploys two independently controlled, needle-sized robotic manipulators from the tip of a rigid endoscope, giving surgeons two-handed dexterity inside body cavities that conventional endoscopic tools cannot reach. The system received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for en bloc removal of bladder lesions, and was used in successful first-in-human bladder cancer removal cases in May 2025. The device is investigational and not yet FDA cleared for commercial sale.

Two robotically controlled manipulators small enough to pass through a rigid endoscope less than half the diameter of a dime, restoring two-handed surgical dexterity in endoscopic procedures at a lower cost than large surgical robot platforms.