FDA Recall: Software implementation error led to instrument arms to fail

Company: Intuitive Surgical, Inc
Date of Enforcement Report: 2/2/2026
Class: II

PRODUCT:

Brand Name: Da Vinci Product Name: da Vinci X, Xi Surgical System, & da Vinci 5 Surgical System Model/Catalog Number: IS4000; IS4200; IS5000 Software Version: N/A Product Description: The da Vinci Xi, X, and da Vinci 5 surgical systems each consist of three main components: the Surgeon Console (SC), the Vision Cart (VC), and the Patient Cart (PC). The PC is the operative component of the system, and its primary function is to support the instrument arms and camera arm. Each system have four Universal Surgical Manipulators (USMs) also known as arms, which allow the surgeon to control up to three instruments and an endoscope simultaneously to perform surgical tasks (e.g. cutting, suturing, tissue approximation) in a variety of procedures. As the surgeon moves the hand controls within the console, the PC moves the robotic instruments within the patient in a corresponding manner. The da Vinci system and its software are designed such that instruments motion precisely tracks the motion inputs from the hand controls during surgery. Component: The affected part based on this recall, 380647-xx, USM, is a sub component of da Vinci Surgical Instrument

Recall Number:

Z-1232-2026

REASON:

Due to a software implementation error that allowed instruments arms failing an important diagnostic test to remain in clinical use. This test was supposed to be used to detect Universal Surgical Manipulator insertion axis ball screws that exhibit the symptoms of being bent and misaligned which is a precursor to potential ball screw fatigue failure/fraction

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER:

Intuitive Surgical, Inc

VOLUME:

219

DISTRIBUTION:

U.S.: AL, AR, CA, CO, CT, FL, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, NC, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, and WI. O.U.S.: Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Kingdom

About the author

Allison joined SoftwareCPR in 2022, bringing along over ten years of passion for building teamwork and growth in organizations. This is established in part by the greatest University the South has to offer- Mississippi State.

SoftwareCPR Training Courses

ISO13485:2016 ISO 13485 Internal Audit(or) Training Course (Live, 3-day)

IEC 62304 and other Emerging Standards Impacting Medical Device Software (Live, 3-day)

Being Agile & Yet CompliantISO 14971 SaMD Risk Management

Software Risk Management

Medical Device Cybersecurity

Software Verification

IEC 62366 Usability Process and Documentation

Or just email training@softwarecpr.com for more info.

Corporate Office

15148 Springview St.
Tampa, FL 33624
USA
+1-781-721-2921
Partners located in the US (CA, FL, MA, MN, TX) and Canada.