IN THE NEWS, INNOVATION
Last week, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) held a virtual meeting for public investors to update them on its medical device business. The highlight was robotics.
J&J announced its intention to compete in the general surgery market with its new robotics platform “Ottava”. The Ottava robotics system incorporates new robotic technology with existing Ethicon instrumentation. It offers six arms to provide more control and flexibility in surgery, while the arms will be integrated into the operating table resulting in a smaller footprint. Elements of the Monarch surgical platform (acquired from Auris in 2019) will be included.
Perhaps the greatest advance Ottava presents to the market is its integration of advanced visualization, machine learning and general data capabilities into the system. In an interview last week on QMED, J&J executive and robotics authority Fred Moll said J&J has “not only the ability to build a machine that helps clinicians accomplish a procedure, but give information guidance, and sometimes automation to certain parts of a procedure that technology can be smart enough to understand clinically what the clinician is trying to accomplish, and be a smart assistant”.
Given the advance Ottava represents much work remains to be done. J&J expects to begin verification and validation processes in 2021 and then likely start clinical trial enrollment in the second half of 2022.
Posted: November 24, 2020
