AI Revolutionizes Surgery: NVIDIA and Johnson & Johnson MedTech Partner

The future of surgery is intelligent, and artificial intelligence (AI) plays a pivotal role in its transformation. NVIDIA and Johnson & Johnson MedTech (J&J MedTech) are joining forces to test the potential of AI in J&J's connected digital ecosystem for surgery. This collaboration aims to foster an open environment for innovation, accelerating the delivery of real-time insights to medical professionals throughout the surgical process.

AI Revolutionizes Surgery: NVIDIA and J&J MedTech Partner on Open Ecosystem

J&J MedTech boasts an impressive presence in 80% of global operating rooms and trains over 140,000 healthcare professionals annually. Now, they're leveraging their established surgical ecosystem with NVIDIA's leading AI solutions, including the NVIDIA IGX edge computing platform and NVIDIA Holoscan edge AI platform designed specifically for medical devices. This collaboration will expedite the development of the infrastructure needed to deploy AI-powered surgical software applications.

Unveiled at NVIDIA GTC, the global AI conference, this initiative holds immense potential. IGX and Holoscan can facilitate secure, real-time processing from various operating room devices, generating valuable clinical insights and ultimately improving surgical outcomes. Additionally, this collaborative effort could pave the way for the deployment of third-party models and applications within the digital surgery ecosystem by providing a common AI computing platform.

"AI models are being created by surgical experts worldwide," says Shan Jegatheeswaran, vice president and global head of digital at J&J MedTech. "By establishing a secure and open ecosystem, we can fuel a cycle of innovation where diverse groups collaborate and connect on a larger scale, ultimately improving access to advanced analytics throughout the surgical journey."

Building on Open Innovation with NVIDIA Holoscan and IGX

J&J MedTech is actively testing how NVIDIA's industrial-grade edge AI capabilities, specifically designed for medical environments, can benefit surgery.

"Our connected digital ecosystem will dismantle traditional barriers for developers seeking to build applications and deploy analytics in the operating room," explains Jegatheeswaran. "We're simplifying participation in the surgical workflow by eliminating the burden of building secure, enterprise-grade platforms."

NVIDIA Holoscan streamlines the development and deployment of real-time AI applications for processing data streams. It offers reference pipelines to build AI applications for various medical applications, including endoscopy, ultrasound, and other sensor-based procedures. Holoscan operates on NVIDIA IGX, which incorporates NVIDIA Jetson Orin modules, NVIDIA RTX A6000 GPUs, and NVIDIA ConnectX networking technology to enable high-speed data transfer from medical devices and operating room video feeds. Furthermore, NVIDIA supports the IGX software stack with NVIDIA AI Enterprise, the enterprise operating system specifically designed for production-grade AI.

Harnessing Device Data to Fuel Surgical AI

The J&J MedTech team envisions the potential of NVIDIA-accelerated edge analytics within its connected digital ecosystem acting as a catalyst for AI-powered applications fueled by device data, patient data, and other surgical information. Developers could leverage continuous learning, where algorithms improve based on data collected by deployed devices. For instance, real-world footage captured by an endoscope could be used to refine an AI model that identifies organs, tissue, and potential tumors in real-time on an operating room display, aiding clinical decision-making.

"Surgical technologies will become progressively more intelligent, empowering surgeons and hospitals with the power of advanced analytics," says Jegatheeswaran. "A suite of AI models could act as a driver-assistance system for surgeons, enhancing their ability to deliver care while reducing cognitive load."

One such example involves AI that anonymizes surgical videos, enabling their use for research purposes. Alternatively, real-time processing could allow hospitals to bring in external experts for telepresence consultations during surgery while maintaining patient privacy.

The Future of Surgery: Powered by AI

Future applications could involve surgeons interacting with chatbots to gain insights into a patient's medical history or best practices for handling specific complications. Additionally, AI models could improve operating room efficiency by analyzing video feeds to predict the completion time of a procedure, alerting the next surgical team that a room will be available soon.

**This groundbreaking collaboration between NVIDIA and J&J MedTech signifies a major leap forward in AI-powered surgery. By fostering an open ecosystem and leveraging cutting-edge AI solutions, they pave the way for a future where surgery is more intelligent, efficient, and ultimately leads to better patient outcomes.