Verily wants to create a cheap and reliable robo-surgeon.
The game is afoot to see which company could come up with the next-generation of the surgical robot.Verily creates cheap surgical robot. Doctors have been using robots for some time now during ample and delicate surgical procedures, such as those that involve cutting very small cancerous outgrowths.
Johnson & Johnson had decided that a partnership with Alphabet Inc., former Google, would be beneficial to the medical world. Thus, J&J’s Ethicon division has shaken hands with the medical division from Alphabet Inc. in order to create a new company.
The emerging company is called Verb Surgical and it has been announced since the month of March. Both Google and J&J have pooled their resources in order to create a new generation of robot-assisted surgical instruments, capable of offering enhanced precision when it comes to intricate surgical procedures. Moreover, it would seem that the newly born company is planning of making quite a name for itself by coming up with a prototype of an entirely new surgical assistant.
When talking about robotic-assisted surgical intervention, a name comes out every time: Intuitive Surgical Inc. Until now, Intuitive has been deemed champion when it came to smart surgical instruments. Some time ago, the company released such a robotic device, capable of aiding a surgeon in delicate operations. The only downside to this machine was that it was the size of the car and the doctor would have to stand very close to the patient in order to perform the surgical intervention.
Moreover, it would seem that such a system doesn’t count on artificial intelligence. The system was designed in order to have a human user that actually took control of the robotic arms and performed the operation. And the whole ensemble would cost somewhere around 20 million dollars.
But now, as Alphabet teams up with J&J to create a cheap surgical robot, the rules of the game will significantly change. The two strike teams came up with a plan that will significantly reduce the surgical ensemble both in price and size. According to Verily’s spokespersons, the surgical device will be reduced in size (20 percent smaller than Intuitive’s machine) and will incorporate most new technologies developed by Alphabet Inc. Of course, that includes the new works concerning Google’s learning machine.
Basically, the developers can feed the machine different videos of the surgical session. And when the time arrives to help the surgeon, the machine will be able to provide him with certain guidelines learned from the video material. Moreover, the surgical system will be able to perform a wider array of surgical interventions.
Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org
