Healthcare providers looking to build soft tissue robotic surgery programs saw their options multiply in the past year.

When Medtronic and another deep-pocketed robot developer, CMR Surgical, snagged Food and Drug Administration nods in December, it capped off a steady succession of regulatory clearances and submissions, funding rounds and clinical trial launches for companies advancing new systems for minimally invasive surgery. The momentum continued in the new year as Johnson & Johnson submitted its Ottava robot for FDA authorization.