Santa Barbara, Calif.-based InTouch Health Technologies Inc., a remote presence healthcare solution company, is partnering with robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery company, Intuitive Surgical Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., in a deal that will see InTouch Health integrate its remote presence technology with Intuitive's da Vinci surgical system.
According to InTouch, the incorporation of the two systems should allow for more efficient means of training surgeons.
Intuitive's da Vinci surgical system is a surgical robot that translates the surgeon's natural hand movements on instrument controls outside the patient's body into corresponding micro-movements of the instrument tips positioned inside the patient through small puncture incisions.
The Remote Presence System, produced by InTouch Health, enables a remotely based surgeon to project his or her presence into an operating room where a surgeon is performing a da Vinci surgical procedure. The connection is made over a high speed Internet connection, and the system provides audio and video, allowing the remote surgeon to view the surgery from multiple cameras while interacting with the surgeon and staff operating via da Vinci.
