????這類手術機器人當中最受歡迎的，也是弗蘭克?克萊門特去年秋天在美國西雅圖的瑞典醫療中心（Swedish Medical Center）接受手術時所用的，就是達芬奇外科手術機器人（da Vinci）。它的專利所有者及生產商均為直覺外科公司（Intuitive Surgical）。這是一家公開上市的硅谷企業，公開的營業收入為17.6億美元，較2010年增長了24%。這套設備的開發耗資高達230萬美元，整套系統包括控制臺、機器人和一臺用來連接各部分的高大的服務器支架。達芬奇機器人在許多方面更感覺就像是它所在領域內的iPhone——外科醫生們紛紛表示，它使用簡單，設計大方。此外，就像iPhone的出產商蘋果公司（Apple）一樣，直覺外科公司已經構建出一種封閉式的商業模式：相關軟件及硬件均為專利技術，并且由公司全面監控著達芬奇生產線的方方面面，從而為“封閉式操作系統”一詞賦予了新的含義。

????盡管直覺外科公司在同類市場上占據主導地位【僅馬約診所（Mayo Clinic）一家就配備了7臺達芬奇外科手術系統】，其成功卻遠非十拿九穩。另一家新近成立的機器人企業出產的機器人為將來的手術室提供了另一種具有競爭力的選擇。這款由初創企業應用靈巧公司（Applied Dexterity）制造的機器人Raven是一臺體積更小、價格更低廉的實驗性機械。它基于開源架構設計而成，因而易于遭到黑客攻擊，相較之下更像是谷歌公司（Google）為手機開發的安卓（Android）操作平臺。換言之，直覺外科公司所采用的創新技術多為公司內部成果，而Raven則可由幾乎任何人來開發、改進和研究。兩種模式都在推動著這一領域進入一個前人無從想像的地帶。關于外科手術的未來，有道價值500億美元的問題：屆時，手術室會有地方容納得下一種以上的機器人嗎？(財富中文網)

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????譯者：薄錦

????The most popular of such surgical robots -- the one used on Frank Clement during his operation last fall at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle -- is the da Vinci. Patented and manufactured by Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) -- a publicly held Silicon Valley--based company that posted revenue of $1.76 billion, a 24% increase over 2010 -- the system costs up to $2.3 million. It includes the console, the robot, and a tall server bay that connects them. It is, in more ways than one, the iPhone of its category: Surgeons say it is easy to use and elegantly designed. And like iPhone maker Apple (AAPL), Intuitive has developed a closed model: Its software and hardware are proprietary, and the company controls all aspects of the da Vinci's production, bringing new meaning to the term "closed operating system."

????Despite its dominant position (Mayo Clinic alone has seven machines), its success is far from assured. Another, just-formed robotics company's robot offers a competing vision of what might be possible in the operating room of tomorrow. Made by Applied Dexterity, a startup, and called the Raven, it is a smaller, cheaper experimental machine built on an open-source model, which makes it hackable, and more like Google's (GOOG) Android platform for mobile phones. Put another way, innovation at Intuitive tends to come from within the company, while nearly anyone can invent, add to, and study the Raven. Both models are pushing the field into previously unimagined territory. The $50 billion question for the future of surgery: Will there be (operating) room for more than one kind of robot?