NVIDIA and Johnson & Johnson join forces to bring AI to surgical procedures

NVIDIA

NVIDIA and Johnson & Johnson have announced a partnership to develop and scale artificial intelligence applications for use in surgery at all stages of operations.

Here's What We Know

According to Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA's vice president of healthcare, the parties plan to integrate AI into J&J MedTech devices and platforms from pre-operative through rehabilitation. One of the first tasks will be to use the technology to analyse surgical video and automate associated documentation.

"There’s an ability to use all the sources of data inside an operating room, whether it’s your voice, or whether it’s the video coming from a camera inside the body, or elsewhere, to take advantage of the generative AI" - noted Powell.

J&J's MedTech division produces tools and solutions for cardiac, renal and other diseases. They are used in more than 75 million procedures annually.

According to J&J vice president Shan Jegatheeswaran, one minute of surgical video is equivalent to 25 CT scans. Annotating and sharing such data is therefore important for training surgeons.

In the short term, technology will help with de-identification and enhancement of videos for physician training. In the future, AI analytics can be overlaid on video for real-time decision support.

More accessible surgical video means residents won't have to rely solely on the insight and availability of more experienced physicians at their institutions.

Powell added that it will take time for many AI applications to be safely applied to surgeries, but initially they will help automate routine work.

Source: CNBC