Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Records of Think Surgical, Inc.

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.1378
Creators:
Think Surgical, Inc. (Fremont, California)
Dates:
1983-2010
bulk 1991-1994
Languages:
Collection is in
English
. Some materials in
German
.
Physical Description:
5.5 Cubic feet
17 boxes, 1 map folder, digital files
Repository:
The collection documents the development of ROBODOC™, the first robot to perform surgery on a human in the United States through correspondence, memoranda, press clippings, press releases, engineering drawings, regulatory policies and procedures, photographs, and audiovisual materials.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The collection documents the development of ROBODOC™, a robotic surgical system that would redefine precision joint replacement procedures. The collection contains correspondence, memoranda, press clippings, press releases, engineering drawings, regulatory policies and procedures, photographs, and audiovisual materials documenting the development of the ROBODOC™. The collection is strong in documentation about regulatory policies and procedures the company undertook for approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is divided into six series.
Series 1: Project History and Background Materials, 1985-2003
Series 2: Engineering Materials, 1989-2000, bulk 1991-1993
Series 3: User Guides, 1991-2001
Series 4: Food and Drug Administration, 1987-2001
Series 5: Press Clippings, 1983-2010
Series 6: Audiovisual Materials, 1988-2009

Historical

Historical
ROBODOC™ was the first robot to perform surgery in the United States. It was developed in 1986 by IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, and researchers at the University of California, Davis. They formed a collaborative initiative to develop a surgical device for Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA). The team included William Bargar, M.D., Howard "Hap" Paul, D.V.M (1949- 1993), and engineers, Brent Mittelstadt and Peter Kazanides. See US Patent 5,769,092 for Computer-aided system for revision total hip replacement surgery and US Patent 5,806,518 for Method and system of positioning surgical robot, 1998. The original company, Integrated Surgical Systems (ISS) was incorporated in 1990.
The goal of ISS was to create a robotic surgical system that would redefine precision joint replacement procedures. Drilling into bone by hand is not always precise, and often requires glue to fill in empty spaces. Additionally there is a danger the bone will splinter. In this regard, ROBODOC is similar to computer-controlled machine tools. ROBODOC "mills" the bone or joint for accurate fitting similar to machine tools.
In May of 1990 the device was successfully tested on dogs. Since 1998 when it received 510 (K) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Total Hip Arthroplasty over 28,000 procedures have been performed worldwide.
ROBODOC™ was eventually sold in 2007 to Novatrix Biomedical, Inc. which formed Curexo Medical, Inc. to handle the acquisition of Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc. (ISS). ISS became THINK Surgical, Inc. in 2014.

Administration

Author
Alison Oswald
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by Think Surgical, Inc. through Dr. Mun In-Ki, CEO and President, April 2016.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2016.
Accruals
152 files (15 .WAV files and 137 .mov files) were transferred from the Division of Medicine and Science to the Archives Center in October 2022.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Related Materials
Materials in the Archives Center
Odex I Walking Robot Collection (AC0203)
Massie/McLurkin Innovative Lives Presentation and Interviews (AC0603)
Computer oral History Collection (AC0196)
Gerber Scientific Instrument Company Records (AC0929)

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Inventions -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Inventions -- 21st century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Inventors -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Inventors -- 21st century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Medical Equipment Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Medical innovations Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Orthopedics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bargar, William L. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Erbe, Klaus Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Foley, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Forstein, Micah Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hanson, Randall Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nacion, Ramon Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newcomb, Alex Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Whiseant, Steve Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Zuhars, Joel Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu