Google and Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, have announced a partnership to develop a platform for robotic surgery.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based Google has disclosed few details of the plan for the partnership, but a spokesperson has said its goal is to use algorithms to analyze images from robotic surgical cameras and highlight blood vessels and display critical information on screen. The display would give surgeons a more detailed view of information as they perform a surgery, improving patient safety, according to Wired.
A better analytics platform incorporated with a surgical robot might also be able to improve surgery methods, such as suggesting a better place to make an incision based on a patient's medical history, according to the report. A Google representative told Wired that the company will not be directly involved in making the surgical robots themselves.
Both companies have histories in robotics. New Brunswick, N.J-based Johnson & Johnson works with Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Intuitive Surgical on components for Intuitive's da Vinci surgery system and will continue to do so throughout its partnership with Google, according to the report. Google owns robotics company Boston Dynamics and develops healthcare technology through its Google X Life Sciences division, according to the report.