The medical devices arm of German industrial automation giant Siemens has agreed to buy US surgical robots maker Corindus for one billion euros ($1.1 billion).

Massachusets-based Corindus builds robots to assist surgeons with operations on veins and arteries.

The deal, that must still be approved by shareholders and regulators, will help Siemens Healthineers gain a stronger foothold into the vascular robotics sector.

The robotic machines help doctors place implants like stents more accurately and without exposure to radiation from the scanners used in the operating theatre.

Healthineers, which Siemens partially floated on Germany's MDax medium-sized businesses index last year, has until now mainly focused on building scanners.

"Siemens Healthineers will acquire all fully diluted shares of Corindus for $4.28 per share in cash or $1.1 billion in total," the Munich-based group said in a statement.

Opening up a new field

"With this acquisition, we are opening up a new field for our image-guided therapies business," Siemens Healthineers chief executive Bernd Montag said.

The company added that it hopes to seal the deal by the end of 2019.

Corindus, which manufactures the CorPath robotic platform, posted a US$9.7 million loss during the first quarter of 2019 and only had $37.8 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand on March 31.

Last month, Mr Montag told investors expanding the company's portfolio with new technologies is a key to build a strong foundation.

"The acquisition of Corindus, combined with Siemens' strong advanced therapies portfolio will help further advance the growth of vascular robotics," Michel Therin, president of advanced therapies at Siemens Healthineers, said in a statement.

"The integration of our technologies could lead to reduced variability, improved efficiency, expanded access to care, and ultimately improved patient outcomes."