Intuitive Surgical partners, invests to create individualized informatics for robotic surgery

InTouch telehealth system--Courtesy of InTouch

Intuitive Surgical ($ISRG) is aiming to provide surgeons with more patient-specific information for use with its da Vinci Surgical System with its latest partnership. It's made a deal with telehealth provider InTouch Health to develop products to deliver 3-D reconstructions of anatomical structures for surgeons.

The robotic surgery giant is investing an undisclosed amount in the Santa Barbara, CA-based company as part of the deal. The collaboration is expected to result in jointly developed patient informatics solutions for use with the da Vinci system, which will be delivered via InTouch Health's telehealth infrastructure.

"We are committed to providing hospitals and surgeons with new, innovative tools to improve patient outcomes," said Intuitive Surgical SVP of Product Development Brian Miller in a statement. "This collaborative agreement and investment in InTouch is an exciting opportunity to leverage the thought leadership from two innovative companies to enhance data, imaging and telementoring solutions."

Intuitive Surgical has long drawn concerns and allegations of insufficient surgeon training that can result in surgical errors during use of the robotic system. This partnership is obviously an effort to better prepare physicians in advance of a particular surgery thereby potentially improving surgical outcomes.

For InTouch Health, the cash infusion from Intuitive Surgical will enable it to invest in improving the functionality and scale of its own telehealth cloud.

"Intuitive Surgical's strategic investment and collaboration is a testament to the unique capabilities of the InTouch Telehealth Cloud to deliver real-time collaboration and patient informatics in mission-critical healthcare applications," said InTouch chairman and CEO Yulun Wang.

- here is the deal announcement

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