Industry Voices: How Robotics Is Transforming the Medical Domain, Insights From QNX

As part of our Industry Voices series, we spoke with João Pereira, EMEA General Embedded Market Sales at QNX, a division of BlackBerry that develops real-time, safety-critical software for industries such as medical devices and robotics.

Explore how medical robotics are evolving, where it’s having the greatest impact, and what it takes to integrate these systems safely into complex hospital environments.

“What’s changing isn’t just the hardware — it’s the software foundation that makes medical robotics safe, connected, and scalable.” says João Pereira.

“Medical robotics are moving from single, highly specialized systems to increasingly connected, software-defined platforms that operate safely within complex clinical workflows.”

The impact is already visible across multiple areas of healthcare:

• Minimally invasive surgery, where robotic-assisted systems deliver precision, repeatability, and improved outcomes.

• Interventional and image-guided procedures, which demand real-time synchronization between robotics and high-throughput imaging.

• Hospital logistics and rehabilitation, where mobile and collaborative robots are augmenting staff and improving operational efficiency.

What’s different today is not only what robots can do, but what hospitals expect from them. Beyond mechanical precision, systems must now be safety-certified, cyber-resilient, interoperable, and capable of performing reliably under load.

That shift places software at the center of innovation.

“Deterministic real-time control, secure connectivity, and lifecycle updatability are now baseline requirements for medical robotics.”

Software platforms play a central role in advancing medical robotics, providing the infrastructure needed for reliable, real-time performance in life-critical applications. From complex surgical systems and advanced diagnostic equipment to patient monitoring and drug delivery technologies, QNX solutions are designed to meet the rigorous demands of healthcare environments.

“Advances in clinical procedures are already reducing complications, accelerating recovery, and shortening hospital stays.” Companies such as QNX contribute to this progress by developing real-time, safety-certified software platforms used in mission-critical settings. These technologies help ensure the dependable operation of medical robotic systems while enabling manufacturers to focus on clinical capabilities and innovation.

While robotics adoption is growing across industries, healthcare presents a unique set of technical and operational barriers.

A recent QNX survey found that while 50% of organizations report using robotics, adoption in healthcare remains lower, at around 40% — reflecting the complexity of clinical environments and regulatory expectations. Several key challenges help explain this gap:

• Mixed-criticality and determinism: Medical robots must deliver hard real-time guarantees for motion control while simultaneously running complex software functions, such as user interfaces, data processing, and connectivity.

• Cybersecurity: Medical robotic systems are long-lived assets that must remain secure throughout their lifecycle. As connectivity increases, so does exposure to evolving cyber threats. Any compromise (whether affecting the device itself or its communications), can impact patient safety, clinical operations, and organizational trust.

• Interoperability and IT/OT convergence: Medical robotic systems are increasingly expected to communicate with clinical information systems, imaging archives, and hospital networks. These environments are often fragmented or siloed, making seamless and secure data exchange difficult while still preserving safety and patient privacy.

As robotic technologies become more connected and software-driven, organizations are prioritizing deterministic real-time performance, robust cybersecurity, and certification-ready platforms that help streamline regulatory processes and accelerate time-to-market.

“Partnerships ensure that customers can bring advanced robotics systems to market more quickly and with greater confidence, leveraging established frameworks for safety, security, and long-term maintainability.”

Looking ahead, “North America and Europe remain the strongest markets for medical robotics, driven by high adoption of surgical and diagnostic robots and evolving regulatory expectations for cybersecurity and safety.”

At the same time, Japan and South Korea represent major growth opportunities. Their advanced robotics ecosystems and aging populations are increasing demand for automation across healthcare settings.

As medical robotics continues to mature, the convergence of software, safety, and connectivity will define which technologies, and which companies, lead the next phase of innovation.

Learn how Critical Software is helping advance safety and reliability in medical technologies on our Medical Devices page.