C-SATS vs OTTAVA (J&J MedTech)

C-SATS and OTTAVA share a parent, Johnson & Johnson MedTech, and nothing in their buying. A robot purchase and a video-grading platform go to different people.

C-SATS came in through the April 2018 acquisition of a University of Washington spinout. It takes video from minimally invasive cases into a cloud library where expert surgeons and trained reviewers grade technique, which suits a residency director benchmarking trainees. C-SATS claims HIPAA compliance and a HITRUST CSF certified library, and states no FDA status or EHR integration. A hospital shopping for a robot finds nothing to buy there.

OTTAVA is a table-integrated soft-tissue robot, FDA De Novo authorized in July 2026 for procedures including gastric bypass, cholecystectomy and appendectomy. J&J describes Polyphonic as an open digital ecosystem bringing learning, media and data insights to OTTAVA teams. It fits a hospital with a general surgery service and a robot capital budget. A department that only wants resident skills graded gets nothing from a robot. Rollout starts with select US customers, an inguinal hernia trial is ongoing, and the authorization rested on an IDE study that began in late 2024.