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DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS	9 Months Ended
DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS	Sep. 30, 2014
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS	DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS Intuitive designs, manufactures and markets da Vinci^® Surgical Systems and related instruments and accessories, which taken together, are advanced surgical systems. The Company believes these surgical systems enable a new generation of surgery. This new generation of surgery, which the Company calls da Vinci surgery, combines the benefits of minimally invasive surgery (“MIS”) for patients with the ease of use, precision and dexterity of open surgery. A da Vinci Surgical System consists of a surgeon’s console, a patient-side cart and a high performance vision system. The da Vinci Surgical Systems translate a surgeon’s natural hand movements, which are performed on instrument controls at a console, into corresponding micro-movements of instruments positioned inside the patient through small incisions, or ports. The da Vinci Surgical Systems are designed to provide their operating surgeons with intuitive control, range of motion, fine tissue manipulation capability and Three Dimensional (“3-D”), High-Definition (“HD”) vision while simultaneously allowing surgeons to work through the small ports enabled by MIS procedures.