Johnson & Johnson plans to distribute at least 150 virtual reality headsets to U.S. surgeons through a partnership with startup Osso VR, two executives from Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies told MedCity News.
MedCity News interviewed Sandra Humbles, vice president of global education solutions, and Tim Mauri, director of technology and innovation for global education solutions.
Six insights:
1. Johnson & Johnson will begin distributing the Oculus Quest headsets in April, initially focusing on joint reconstruction.
2. The initiative is intended to improve surgical training, allow surgeons to train wherever they are, and help surgeons and support staff collaboratively train from separate locations.
3. Along with writing the surgical training software, Osso VR will measure and report on performance data to help Johnson & Johnson determine the technology's effectiveness.
4. Eventually, Johnson & Johnson and Osso VR plan to expand the program worldwide. "The goal is to get VR in the hands of every single surgeon in every single hospital around the world," Osso VR co-founder and CEO Justin Barad, MD, told MedCity News.
5. Currently, more than 1,000 surgeons train using the Osso VR platform each month. While they can help improve training, VR headsets may cause discomfort when worn for extended periods of time and require users to keep their heads still.
6. Johnson & Johnson's three years of work in the VR space include testing VR at two dozen training institutes around the world.
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