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
     September 30, 2008 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: November 7, 2008                     By: /s/ Christopher A. Marlett
                                            ------------------------------------
                                            Christopher A. Marlett
                                            Chief Executive Officer

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