Google
had been pushing into Robotics into a big way for quite some time now. But most
of their robotics research had had a more decidedly military tone as per the
article “VIDEO:
Meet Google's New Robot Dog”, published February 11 2015 by Angela
Moscarlitolo, PC world.
Strangely,
it wasn’t mentioned prominently at Google I/O 2015 as most of their projects
centered on Google Android M as explained in my blog article
entitled “Google
IO Statistics - A Future Past of Growing Strong for All of Android's Children
and a Future with Google ATAP Projects”.
That's
why I was quite surprised to discover that Google and Johnson & Johnson are
working on developing a surgical robot as reported in the article “Your Surgeon is.....a
Google Robot”, published March 27, 2015 by Angela Moscaritolo, PCWorld.
This
time, Google was not the one spilling the beans on one of their blogs. Rather,
Johnson & Johnson in a Blog post on their website entitled “Johnson
& Johnson announces definitive agreement to Collaborate with Google to
Advance Surgical Robotics” made the announcement of their partnership .
So
does this means that my medicated Powder will have Roots in it? Not quite, but
that wouldn’t be a bad idea!
Google and Johnson
& Johnson to make Surgical Robots – Prometheus Surgical Robot coming
Their
partnership consists of Google's Life Sciences Team in collaboration with
Johnson & Johnson Ethicon Medical Device Company, who will be pooling their
expertise in Robotics and Medical Technology to develope this surgical robot.
Google
does have same credibility in the medical profession, as Google Glass is still
being used by Medical Doctors and even at Medical schools like UC Irvine School
of Medicine as reported in my blog article entitled
“US$1500
Google Glass for UC Irvine School of Medicine is also on Sale to Public - Ramp
up for 2015 Public Launch as UWI Med Sci Students have Tablets but no Glass”.
This
is despite the end of their Explorer program to focus on Military contracts as
explained in my blog
article entitled “@googleglass
Explorer Program ends – Google Glass going Enterprise as Cheaper Version coming
against Microsoft Hololens”.
Google
also has expertise in Robotics, having purchased Robotics Company Boston
Dynamics in December 2013 as declared in the article “WHY IS
GOOGLE BUILDING A ROBOT ARMY?”, published December 22, 2013 By Geoff
Duncan, DigitalTrends.
This
gave Google a Robotics Engineering army and access to robotics contracts for
both Civilian and Military robots, mostly with the US Military. Google’s use of
this expertise in the medical field via this partnership is an example of a
company properly integrating the expertise from a company they acquired to do
research into products that may potentially turn out to be huge profit engines
in the future.
So
does Google and Johnson & Johnson have Surgical Robots such as the once
seen in the movie Prometheus (2014) in mind? Possibly, but try thinking a
little smaller!
Robotics in Medicine -
Robotic Surgery by swallowing a pill
The
use of Robotics in Surgery has the advantage to assisting surgeons to be better
as they have greater control and precision in their actions. This translates to
reduced trauma and even avoiding the use of anesthetics during surgery, as
Surgical robots do not necessarily have to be humanoid.
In
fact, they don’t have to be large in size at all! They can also be made to be
very small, as small as a pill. At that size, such surgical robots can be
directed to do internal surgery, reducing scarring due to making incisions,
which aids the process of healing after the surgical procedure is complete.
The
Partnership between Google and Johnson & Johnson, albeit private with no
financial details revealed, helps to improve after-surgery outpatient care which
is to the benefit of Surgeons and patients alike. Still, I’d like the Surgical
Robotic Bed as shown in the movie Prometheus, as I have a feeling many wealthy
individuals would purchase one.
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