Google Set To Bring In A Difference In The World Of Surgery

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Mar 30, 2015
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The technology giant, Google (GOOG, Financial), has always striven to develop the best-in-kind products for the market and is often branded as the tech expert in the industry for its expertise in search optimization and its roaring popularity in the technology space. However, Google’s advent in the healthcare segment has been a sporadic one and does not find much of a mention by the analysts who follow the healthcare segment in the U.S. But currently the Google research team of biologists and chemists are in the top news section as Google is hoping to bring in advanced technology that could help surgeons to perform surgeries in a better way. Let’s get into the facts which have come into the limelight in the past few days with respect to Google’s strategic move to cater to the healthcare domain.

Joining hands with the healthcare giant

In a spree to develop a robotics-assisted surgical program for serving the surgical community by providing advanced imaging and sensors to surgical tools of surgeons, Google is hopefully joining forces with the world’s largest maker of healthcare products, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Financial). The partnership would be through the life sciences division of the Google-X labs, the research unit of the company that has funded projects such as the recent project on self-driven cars.

In a statement last Friday, Andy Conrad, head of life sciences team at Google commented, “We look forward to exploring how smart software could help give surgeons the information they need at just the right time during an operation…”

This partnership would mark a new venture of Google into the robotics technology domain, but the company has shown interest in other medical initiatives earlier as well. However, such a move of Google can be termed as a ‘smart move’ by the technology giant. The partnership is to be formed between Google and the surgery focused subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon, and the two companies would share their expertise and knowledge to create a “robotics-assisted surgical platform” and in developing “new robotic tools and capabilities.”

This is not the first time companies have collaborated to create strides in robotics technology, and robotics has been growing rapidly in the past two decades. But use of such technology during a surgery adds to the cost of surgery, and thus, its usage has been limited till date for conducting vital surgeries. In fact, robotic-assisted surgeries utilize the concept of minimal-invasive surgery since the surgery is aided by robotic arms that insert tools inside the patient’s body instead of it being done by the real surgeon. Hence, it adds more precision to the surgical operation and also reduces the blood loss, scarring and pain experienced by patients undergoing such surgeries. But, as it is an expensive option, several surgeries of this age are still performed without the use of this innovative technology.

Johnson & Johnson and Google are partnering to make this breakthrough surgery option significantly cost-effective and thus change the way surgeries are conducted in the near future. Google has agreed to deploy its efforts in computer science, advanced imaging and sensors to aid in making revolutionary tools that could help surgeons perform surgeries with minimal human error as well as provide real-time image analysis of the specific area being operated by the surgeon.

Offering some likely competition

Currently, the robotics market is ruled by Intuitive Surgical (ISRG, Financial), the Silicon Valley company that manufactured the da Vinci robot which helps surgeons to control the movement of their surgical tools via a computer console. According to Intuitive Surgical Inc., such robotics-assisted surgical procedures have grown at the rate of 9% in 2014, and are expected to increase at the rate of 7-10% this year.

The pact between Google and Johnson & Johnson for creating a better version of robotic assisted surgical tools would surely offer competition to the major player in the robotics market.

Parting word

While this collaboration is still on the cards and is pending approval by the antitrust authorities in the U.S., it is being anticipated that the deal will reach completion between April-June this year. The financial details of the deal are yet to be shared, but obviously if this deal gets the final approval, it would mark the beginning of a new chapter in the world of surgery and Google would be the name behind such an achievement. Let’s stay tuned for more information on this deal in the days to come.