The medical device giant is collaborating with Touch Surgery, which has app-based 3-D simulations of surgeries.

Chris Newmarker

Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon subsidary recently announced a collaboration with Touch Surgery(London and New York) to develop free surgical training simulations related to Ethicon products. 

Touch Surgery already boasts a million downloads of its smart device app, available in both iOS and Android. The app already enables surgeons, other health experts, and students to practice 75 different procedures in 3-D operating room simulations. 

"We're looking to improve the standards of surgical care and treatment around the world, accelerating our pace of innovation and aiding the training of more physicians through collaborations such as this agreement with Touch Surgery," Michael del Prado, group chairman of Ethicon, said in a news release.  

"It reflects our broad-based approach to innovation and is another important step toward developing a trusted education ecosystem that improves patient outcomes," del Prado said. 

The plan is to start with training around Ethicon general surgery products and then potentially expand to other Johnson & Johnson businesses, covering products in spaces including orthopedic and cardiovascular. 

Virtual surgical and health training is a growing field. It has the potential to create better health outcomes by ensuring better trained health providers, and it also represents a value add for medical device companies wishing to increase customer loyalty. 

Other important companies in the area include London-based Medical Realities, which in April became the first in the world to have performed a virtual reality 360-degree live stream of a surgery on a cancer patient to anyone who had a VR headset.

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

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[Image courtesy of Touch Surgery]