Ethicon collaborates with Touch Surgery to deliver simulated surgical training for improving patient outcomes

3-D Simulations Put Surgical Training at Fingertips

Ethicon, Inc., part of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, announces a strategic collaboration with Touch Surgery to help improve patient outcomes by delivering simulated surgical training based on the safe and efficacious use of Ethicon products in a free mobile app that can reach medical professionals in even remote regions of the world.

Ethicon's more than 60-year history in educating surgeons and deep expertise with surgical products, combined with Touch Surgery's technology platform and unique 3D simulations, will provide digital content that aids surgeons and students in training anytime, anywhere.

A report on global surgery, commissioned in 2015 by The Lancet, found nearly one-third of the global burden of disease can be treated surgically and that five billion people lack access to safe and affordable surgical care.

"We're looking to improve the standards of surgical care and treatment around the world, accelerating our pace of innovation and aiding the training of more physicians through collaborations such as this agreement with Touch Surgery," says Michael del Prado, Company Group Chairman, Ethicon.  "It reflects our broad-based approach to innovation and is another important step toward developing a trusted education ecosystem that improves patient outcomes."

The Touch Surgery platform empowers and connects the global surgery community by enabling virtual surgical training on procedures in 3-D operating room simulations that are unlike other available solutions. The app currently has one million users and helps enable surgeons and other healthcare providers to practice more than 75 procedures of varying surgical specialties.

Ethicon and Johnson & Johnson Medical Device Companies are committed to expanding access to surgical procedures around the world, especially in developing countries where access to the latest training practices can be limited. The collaboration with Touch Surgery will help bolster the library of procedures to create leading educational content across a broad range of surgical specialties, helping to expand resident education and standardize procedures.

Ethicon will begin by addressing training needs in General Surgery and will look at potential opportunities to expand over time to include other Johnson & Johnson Medical Device Companies businesses and specialties, such as orthopaedics and cardiovascular.