Google wants to bring robots to the operating room

Google’s technology may eventually make its way into operating rooms and help surgeons with their procedures. In separate announcements, Google and medical device and pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson said that they’re working together on developing a robot-assisted surgical platform. Google’s life sciences division is contributing advanced imaging software and sensor technology to the project, said a company spokeswoman. Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that its Ethicon division is bringing its experience developing surgical robots. While Google has worked on robotics, that development isn’t part of the Johnson & Johnson collaboration. Instead, Google efforts will aim at combining medical data and presenting it to surgeons in a more useful manner. During an operation, surgeons rely on several screens to provide information like medical images, test results or guidance on how to operate on an atypical condition, said Google. Eventually, Google’s software could show this data on one screen by overlaying it on the interface that surgeons use to control the robots and delivering information when it’s needed.