Better Buy: Intuitive Surgical vs. Medtronic

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) and Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) are two of the bigger medical equipment companies delving into the growing field of robotic-assisted surgeries (RAS). New RAS systems are used with minimally invasive surgery techniques that are said to decrease the chance of infection, pain and blood loss, and foster shorter recovery times for patients.

It was a down year for many medical equipment companies because the coronavirus pandemic led to the deferral of many elective surgeries. But both companies have endured the pandemic pretty well. Intuitive's shares are up more than 38% year to date while Medtronic is up only slightly at 1.45% in 2020.

Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci system was a pioneering tool in robotic surgeries. It was initially approved for laparoscopic surgery by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration back in 2000. Medtronic, however, first through a partnership with Mazor Robotics and then through purchasing outright Mazor in 2018, is showing that it intends to become a major player in the market. There's a huge upside to the robotic surgery space; the market is expected to sport a compound annual growth rate of 21.55% through 2023, according to one report from Market Insights. Let's see which is best poised to capitalize on that growth.

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Source Fool.com