A Marriage Between Software and Hardware: Digital Surgery Designated as a Microsoft Mixed Reality Partner to Further Advance Safe Surgical Care

Digital Surgery, a health technology company shaping the future of surgery, announced today its designation as an official Microsoft Mixed Reality Partner (MMRP). The partnership allows Digital Surgery to create mixed reality solutions to improve the delivery of surgical care, as part of the Microsoft Mixed Reality Program.

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Studies show that nearly one in seven patients hospitalized for major surgical procedures are readmitted within 30 days of discharge, with financial implications for the health system and clinical implications for patients. Digital Surgery will utilize this partnership, together with other demonstrated capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI), to power a radical shift in surgical care.

Digital Surgery was in the headlines recently, when the company announced the first live demonstration of its surgical artificial intelligence (AI) system for the operating room. Dr. Jean Nehme, CEO, outlined the strategic importance of the partnership in the company's mission, saying "The Microsoft recognition is truly an honor and sets the stage for our larger mission, which is to deliver safe surgical care for all. With our AI technology and database of digital surgical processes, we've trained a computer to understand surgical procedures and predict what happens next. With HoloLens, we open the exciting opportunity to use the system's integrated camera as the visual recognition system to deliver even more immersive experiences for the entire surgical team. This collaboration is a critical part of our strategy to partner with the world's best technology firms, especially providers of breakthrough hardware, to support the delivery of safer surgery. I am excited to see what we can accomplish together."

Leila Martine, Product Director, Mixed Reality, Microsoft, says, "We are delighted to have Digital Surgery accredited as a Mixed Reality Partner. Given the pace of technological change, it is key that customers can access partners who understand mixed reality potential and have the proven ability to deliver transformative solutions. It's great to see Microsoft HoloLens being added to Digital Surgery's impressive content catalogue, and help us jointly shape the future of surgery and improvements in patient outcomes."  

Dr. Manish Chand, Consultant Surgeon, University College London Hospitals, believes that, "Augmented reality and mixed reality models are going to be the future of surgery. They're going to help us [in the OR] to plan and execute. We've already completed a live demonstration of this technology, and we saw that the entire surgical team was better coordinated as a result of having access to this technology. Recently, we published a study in the Annals of Surgery that further highlights the benefits of Digital Surgery's AR and AI technologies in the OR."

According to the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, more than five billion people do not have access to safe surgical care, with operative knowledge being one of the critical factors that has yet to scale globally. Addressing this problem will require innovative technologies like the HoloLens platform, bolstered by intelligent operating systems like Digital Surgery's.

Quotes from leading surgeons  

• "Digital Surgery's vision for improving surgical care is quite amazing.  They have built a technology that allows me to render a fistula in 3D., one of the most challenging cases for a general surgeon, with a 50 percent success rate globally. By having a patient-specific 3D render, I'm able to visualize these complex structures and formulate a better plan for treatment. I look forward to having these scans processed by Digital Surgery's AI and then deployed onto the HoloLens, superimposed on the patient. This will, without a doubt, assist us in improving fistula care." -- Dr. Kapil Sugand, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

• "I've been able to leverage mixed reality technology in an orthopedic training environment.  By using Digital Surgery's mapped procedure of an external fixator, we can get a team together and mutually view the appropriate care protocol for these challenging cases and align as a team.  Our initial research supports this new approach as equal to or greater than the typical tools the OR staff would have to train from." -- Sam Oussedik, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon - Head of Education Centre, University College London Hospital

About Digital Surgery 
Digital Surgery, founded by surgeons for surgeons and healthcare professionals, believes safe surgical care should be accessible for all. Co-founders Dr. Jean Nehme and Dr. Andre Chow set out to shape the future of surgery by building a digital ecosystem that sits at the intersection of surgical expertise and technology. The company is based in London with teams around the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.digitalsurgery.com.