Google and Johnson & Johnson to make Pil-sized Surgical Robots

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.