Exhibit 31.1

                            CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
                  SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

     I, Christopher A. Marlett, Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Surgical
Systems, Inc., certify that:

     1.   I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
          ended March 31, 2009 of Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc. (the
          "registrant");

     2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
          statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
          necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
          under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to
          the period covered by this Quarterly Report;

     3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
          information included in this report, fairly present in all material
          respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
          of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
          Quarterly Report;

     4.   The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
          establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
          defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
          control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
          13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

               (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
               such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
               supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
               registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
               known to me by others within those entities, particularly during
               the period in which this Quarterly Report is being prepared;

               (b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting or
               caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
               designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance
               regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the
               preparation of financial statements for external purposes in
               accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

               (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
               controls and procedures and presented in this Quarterly Report,
               my conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
               and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
               Quarterly Report based on such evaluation; and

               (d) Disclosed in this Quarterly Report any change in the
               registrant's internal control over financial reporting that
               occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the
               registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual
               report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
               materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
               financial reporting.

     5.   The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed,
          based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
          reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
          registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
          functions);

               (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
               design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
               which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
               ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
               information; and

               (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
               or other employees who have a significant role in the
               registrant's internal control over financial reporting.


Dated: May 14, 2009                        By: /s/ Christopher A. Marlett
                                           ---------------------------------
                                           Christopher A. Marlett
                                           Chief Executive Officer

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