Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery Market: as da Vinci 5 receives European CE mark approval explicitly covering thoracoscopic procedures and Ion endoluminal bronchoscopy procedure volume grows nearly three times faster than the broader robotic-assisted procedure base, thoracic surgery is becoming the specialty where robotic platforms are extending furthest beyond their original abdominal and pelvic surgery footprint, so competitive advantage in thoracic-specific applications increasingly depends on a platform’s ability to combine multiport robotic resection capability with endoluminal diagnostic and staging access rather than either capability alone.

The global minimally invasive thoracic surgery market size was USD 6.47 Billion in 2025 and is expected to register a revenue CAGR of 7.8% during the forecast period. Market revenue growth is driven by factors such as da Vinci 5’s European CE mark approval explicitly extending robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery capability to a new region, Ion endoluminal bronchoscopy procedure volume growing substantially faster than the broader robotic-assisted procedure base, and continued lung cancer screening programme expansion increasing the population of patients eligible for minimally invasive diagnostic and resection procedures. The first driving factor is da Vinci 5’s European regulatory clearance explicitly covering thoracoscopic surgical procedures, extending robotic-assisted thoracic surgery capability into a major new geographic market. Intuitive Surgical received CE mark approval for the da Vinci 5 Surgical System in Europe in July 2025, with the approval explicitly covering thoracoscopic surgical procedures alongside abdominopelvic indications, extending robotic-assisted thoracic surgery capability beyond the platform’s earlier United States FDA clearance. The second driving factor is Ion endoluminal bronchoscopy procedure volume growing substantially faster than the broader robotic-assisted procedure base, reflecting rapid adoption of robotic-assisted lung nodule biopsy and staging technology specifically. Ion endoluminal procedure volume grew approximately 44% in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, nearly three times the approximately 17% growth rate recorded for da Vinci procedures over the same period. The third driving factor is continued lung cancer screening programme expansion, increasing the population of patients diagnosed with early-stage lung nodules eligible for minimally invasive diagnostic biopsy and, where indicated, resection. These are some of the key factors driving revenue growth of the market.

A second layer of demand comes from the way a single robotic platform vendor offering both multiport thoracoscopic resection capability and endoluminal diagnostic bronchoscopy capability widens its own addressable thoracic care pathway, letting one vendor relationship capture value across a patient’s full journey from lung nodule diagnosis through staging to resection rather than requiring separate technology vendors for each stage. Once a hospital thoracic surgery programme adopts a vendor’s endoluminal bronchoscopy platform for lung nodule diagnosis and staging, referring patients who require subsequent resection to a robotic-assisted thoracoscopic platform from the same vendor family creates continuity of imaging and procedural data across the diagnostic-to-resection pathway that a mixed-vendor approach cannot easily replicate, so combined diagnostic-and-resection platform ownership compounds a vendor’s value proposition across the full thoracic care pathway. As a result, demand and revenue share are concentrating around vendors capable of offering both endoluminal diagnostic and multiport resection capability, and the forecast tilts toward combined-platform vendors rather than single-capability specialists addressing only diagnosis or only resection. For instance, in the fourth quarter of 2025, Intuitive Surgical, United States, reported that Ion endoluminal procedure volume grew approximately 44% while da Vinci procedure volume, including thoracoscopic resection procedures, grew approximately 17% over the same period, illustrating how the company’s combined diagnostic-and-resection platform portfolio is capturing procedure volume growth across both stages of the thoracic care pathway simultaneously. These are some of the key factors driving revenue growth of the market.

The clearest driver of demand is da Vinci 5’s European regulatory clearance, which explicitly named thoracoscopic surgical procedures among its approved indications rather than limiting European clearance to abdominopelvic applications alone. A regulatory clearance that explicitly names thoracoscopic procedures, rather than a general abdominal surgery clearance that thoracic surgeons might use off-label, gives European hospitals a clear regulatory basis to build dedicated robotic-assisted thoracic surgery programmes, so the explicit thoracoscopic indication and European thoracic programme investment are directly linked. Intuitive Surgical announced in July 2025 that the da Vinci 5 Surgical System received CE mark approval for adult and pediatric use in Europe for minimally invasive endoscopic procedures across abdominopelvic and thoracoscopic surgical procedures, joining a portfolio of da Vinci systems used in more than 410,000 procedures in Europe in 2024. The effect on the market is that European hospital thoracic surgery programmes now have regulatory clarity to invest in da Vinci 5-based robotic-assisted thoracic surgery capability specifically, rather than relying on off-label extension of abdominal surgery clearance. These are some of the key factors driving revenue growth of the market.

The second driver is the substantially faster growth rate of endoluminal bronchoscopy procedure volume relative to the broader robotic-assisted surgical procedure base. Endoluminal bronchoscopy addresses lung nodule diagnosis and staging, a clinical need distinct from surgical resection itself, and this distinct clinical use case, combined with rising lung cancer screening volume identifying more early-stage nodules requiring biopsy, is what has allowed endoluminal procedure volume to grow at a meaningfully faster rate than resection procedure volume, so screening-driven diagnostic demand and endoluminal procedure growth are directly linked. Ion endoluminal procedure volume grew approximately 44% in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, according to Intuitive Surgical’s reported results, compared with approximately 17% growth for da Vinci procedures over the same period. The recent record shows the pace. Intuitive Surgical placed 195 Ion endoluminal systems during 2025, extending the installed base supporting this accelerating procedure volume growth. The effect on the market is that endoluminal diagnostic and staging bronchoscopy is becoming a distinct, rapidly scaling revenue category within the broader minimally invasive thoracic surgery market, growing faster than resection procedure volume alone. These are some of the key factors driving revenue growth of the market.

“Ion endoluminal procedure volume grew approximately 44% in the fourth quarter of 2025, nearly three times the approximately 17% growth rate recorded for da Vinci procedures over the same period, reflecting the accelerating adoption of robotic-assisted lung nodule diagnosis and staging technology specifically within the broader thoracic care pathway.”

The third driver is the continued expansion of lung cancer screening programmes, which is increasing the population of patients identified with early-stage lung nodules eligible for minimally invasive diagnostic biopsy and, where indicated, resection. Lung cancer screening programmes using low-dose CT identify pulmonary nodules earlier than symptomatic presentation would, and each newly identified nodule requiring further workup represents a potential minimally invasive diagnostic and, in a subset of cases, resection procedure, so screening programme expansion and minimally invasive thoracic procedure volume are directly linked upstream of the procedure itself. Expanding lung cancer screening eligibility criteria and programme participation in major markets continues to identify a growing population of patients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules requiring minimally invasive diagnostic evaluation. The effect on the market is that minimally invasive thoracic procedure volume growth is supported by an expanding upstream diagnostic pipeline, not solely by technology adoption at existing thoracic surgery programmes. These are some of the key factors driving revenue growth of the market.

However, the minimally invasive thoracic surgery market faces adoption constraints from the capital expenditure and credentialing barriers that limit robotic-assisted thoracic surgery adoption at community thoracic surgery programmes, thoracic-specific anatomical training complexity beyond general robotic-assisted surgery credentialing, and endoluminal-to-resection pathway coordination requirements between pulmonology and thoracic surgery teams. Because robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery requires both a substantial capital equipment investment, whether a dedicated system or allocated time on a shared multi-specialty robotic platform, and a dedicated credentialing process specific to thoracic anatomy, community thoracic surgery programmes face a genuine capital and training barrier that concentrates robotic-assisted thoracic procedure adoption disproportionately at larger academic and specialist cancer centre programmes with the volume to justify dedicated thoracic robotic capacity. Thoracic-specific anatomical training complexity is a second constraint, because thoracic surgery involves close proximity to critical cardiovascular and airway structures that require specialised robotic-assisted technique training beyond general robotic-assisted surgery credentialing already obtained for abdominal or pelvic procedures, extending the time required before a surgical team can perform robotic-assisted thoracic procedures at full clinical volume, even at a hospital that already has broader robotic-assisted surgery experience. Endoluminal-to-resection pathway coordination is the third constraint, since realising the full value of a combined diagnostic-and-resection platform requires coordinated clinical workflow between pulmonology teams performing endoluminal diagnostic procedures and thoracic surgery teams performing subsequent resection, and not every hospital has this multidisciplinary coordination fully established, meaning the combined-pathway value proposition described in Driver 1 above is not yet realised uniformly across all hospital thoracic programmes. These factors substantially limit minimally invasive thoracic surgery market growth over the forecast period.

Based on procedure type, the global minimally invasive thoracic surgery market is segmented into lung resection (lobectomy/segmentectomy), mediastinal and oesophageal surgery, and endoluminal diagnostic and staging bronchoscopy. Lung resection holds the largest revenue share, because it represents the highest-value, most established minimally invasive thoracic procedure category, which suits da Vinci 5’s newly confirmed European thoracoscopic indication and its established United States clearance for thoracic procedures. Endoluminal diagnostic and staging bronchoscopy is expected to register the fastest revenue growth rate in the global minimally invasive thoracic surgery market over the forecast period, driven directly by Ion’s approximately 44% fourth-quarter 2025 procedure volume growth, which is why diagnostic bronchoscopy represents the fastest-scaling procedure category within the broader thoracic pathway.

Robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) approach is expected to account for a significantly large revenue share in the global minimally invasive thoracic surgery market during the forecast period

Based on approach, the global minimally invasive thoracic surgery market is segmented into robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS), video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), and endoluminal robotic-assisted bronchoscopy. Robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery holds a significant revenue share, reflecting rapid adoption momentum following da Vinci 5’s expanded thoracic indication coverage in both the United States and, since July 2025, Europe. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery remains established as a lower-cost minimally invasive alternative to robotic-assisted approaches, particularly at hospitals without robotic-assisted thoracic surgery capability, and it continues to represent a substantial share of overall minimally invasive thoracic procedure volume globally.

Based on technology, the global minimally invasive thoracic surgery market is segmented into robotic-assisted and conventional thoracoscopic technology. Conventional thoracoscopic technology holds an established revenue share, reflecting its continued use across hospitals without robotic-assisted thoracic surgery infrastructure. Robotic-assisted technology is expected to register the fastest revenue growth rate in the global minimally invasive thoracic surgery market over the forecast period, driven directly by da Vinci 5’s expanding thoracic indication coverage and Ion’s accelerating endoluminal procedure volume, which is why robotic-assisted technology represents the leading edge of thoracic surgery technology adoption.

Based on regional analysis, the minimally invasive thoracic surgery market in North America accounted for largest revenue share in 2025. The United States leads because da Vinci 5 received its original thoracic procedure clearance in the United States before extending to Europe, and because Intuitive Surgical concentrates significant commercial and clinical development activity for both da Vinci and Ion platforms in the country. The United States hosts the largest concentration of lung cancer screening programmes and specialist thoracic cancer centres, sustaining the diagnostic pipeline that feeds minimally invasive thoracic procedure volume. The concentration of both leading robotic thoracic platform development and lung cancer screening infrastructure in the United States also means new thoracic-specific robotic technology is typically launched in the United States first.

The market in Europe is expected to register a steady revenue growth rate over the forecast period. Germany, the United Kingdom, and France represent the three largest national minimally invasive thoracic surgery markets within Europe. Da Vinci 5’s July 2025 CE mark approval, explicitly covering thoracoscopic procedures, extended robotic-assisted thoracic surgery capability across the region, and the region’s established thoracic surgery infrastructure and CE-marking regulatory pathway under the Medical Device Regulation sustain steady demand. The result is steady rather than rapid growth, shaped more by the region’s already-mature thoracic surgical infrastructure than by unmet clinical demand.

The market in Asia Pacific is expected to register a rapid revenue growth rate over the forecast period. Japan, China, and South Korea represent the three largest national minimally invasive thoracic surgery markets within the region. Rising lung cancer incidence linked to smoking prevalence and expanding thoracic surgery robotic infrastructure investment in China are driving new procedure demand from a comparatively lower installed base, leaving more room for growth than in the already-mature North America and Europe markets.

The market in Latin America is expected to register a moderate revenue growth rate over the forecast period. Brazil and Mexico represent the two largest national minimally invasive thoracic surgery markets within the region. Specialist cancer centres in both countries are gradually adopting robotic-assisted thoracic surgery technology, and the indirect effects of Iran-US sanctions and the associated Strait of Hormuz shipping disruption have kept freight and import costs elevated for the specialised thoracic surgical instruments that Latin American cancer centres depend on through 2026, slowing adoption beyond the region’s main urban centres.

The market in Middle East and Africa is expected to register a moderate revenue growth rate over the forecast period. Saudi Arabia and the UAE represent the primary commercial minimally invasive thoracic surgery markets within the GCC. The UAE is the most established minimally invasive thoracic surgery market on the continent given its concentrated private cancer centre infrastructure, while the wider Gulf states and broader African markets are still building the specialist thoracic surgery capacity that robotic-assisted procedure adoption depends on.