Paging Doctor Google: Johnson & Johnson Partners With GOOG To Co-Develop Surgical Robotics Technologies

If Google isn’t getting under your skin yet, it might be in the future. Medical devices juggernaut Johnson & Johnson announced this week that one its companies is partnering with Google to create technologies that improve robot-enhanced surgeries. Ethicon makes surgical shears, staplers, and related equipment.

Johnson & Johnson is partnering with Google to improve robotics for surgical procedures
Johnson & Johnson World Headquarters

“Robotic-assisted surgery is a type of minimally invasive surgery that uses technology to give surgeons greater control, access and accuracy during the surgical procedure while benefitting patients by minimizing trauma and scarring, enabling accelerated post-surgical healing,” Johnson & Johnson said in a statement. “The companies seek to develop new robotic tools and capabilities for surgeons and operating room professionals that integrate best-in-class medical device technology with leading-edge robotic system, imaging and data analytics.”



Google products and technologies have been working their way into healthcare for years. It wasn’t long ago that a surgeon made headlines for streaming a knee surgery via Google Glass. And in fact, Google’s Life Sciences team (a part of Google X) is the group that Ethicon will be collaborating with on robotic surgical technologies.
Joshua Gulick

Joshua Gulick

Josh cut his teeth (and hands) on his first PC upgrade in 2000 and was instantly hooked on all things tech. He took a degree in English and tech writing with him to Computer Power User Magazine and spent years reviewing high-end workstations and gaming systems, processors, motherboards, memory and video cards. His enthusiasm for PC hardware also made him a natural fit for covering the burgeoning modding community, and he wrote CPU’s “Mad Reader Mod” cover stories from the series’ inception until becoming the publication editor for Smart Computing Magazine.  A few years ago, he returned to his first love, reviewing smoking-hot PCs and components, for HotHardware. When he’s not agonizing over benchmark scores, Josh is either running (very slowly) or spending time with family.