How Robotics Are Changing Surgery with Ken Washington, the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Medtronic

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey everybody, welcome back to the Beat Podcast here at recorded live and lost Angelis.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_00]: At the Vive Conference today I have the privilege of hosting an extraordinary guest.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: His name is Ken Washington, and he is the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Medtronic.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Such a pleasure to have you here Ken.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: It's great to be here.

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Pleasure to have you and look, let's again, Ken, you've spent your entire career on the cutting edge of technology development.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Working across many industries including robotics, consumer products, automotive and space.

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_00]: What led you to healthcare and what's unique about this industry compared to others?

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_01]: What led me to healthcare is the mission.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I love the mission and it gives a, it's a super high purpose.

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And that means a lot to me.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_01]: But let me back up a little bit and talk a little bit about where I've been because in the last three roles that I'd had the pleasure of working for companies that all involved.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Bringing advanced technology and specifically including robotics to the products that they build and deliver.

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Starting with Lockheed Martin where I've ran their research lab for their space business.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Amazing.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And you can't go to space without using robotic technology.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I learned a deeper appreciation for how do you build complex products that that have very high stakes when robotics can help you manage the risk and also can accelerate your journey?

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And I brought that understanding with me to Ford Motor Company where I was their Chief Technology Officer.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_01]: If you just take a step back and stare at a car, it's really a robot.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you're manipulating the steering wheel and the brakes and the gas to move his robot on the road.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Can it make my son, he's seven, he's dead.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Our cars robots and I thought I was the most interested in question.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And this is so cool here and you say that, I'm going to tell them.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they really are. They robots.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_01]: But what we learned at Ford is the robots that really could be made better with automation.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Autonomous technology can help us be better drivers.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_01]: That's exactly what we developed there.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And then I brought that understanding of Amazon where we built the world's first autonomous home robot.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_01]: So if you just take all the arc of that career, the whole plan to the incredibly important mission and purpose we have at Metronic,

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_01]: we have the opportunity to make clinicians better.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_01]: We can build robots like our soft tissue robot Hugo and like our image guided robot Lazore.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_01]: And put those in the hands of skilled clinicians to help them deliver better therapies,

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_01]: create better outcomes to lead to better results for patients to change their life.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And what better purpose could there be than that?

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: It's incredible. I love it.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And thank you for sharing your career journey.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a very impressive one.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And now at a company like Metronic, creating technologies that make a difference in people's lives every day is just incredible.

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_00]: On the five stage, you joined the panel focused on robotic assisted surgery.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: How do you see robotics changing healthcare for both physicians and patients?

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And how does the application of robotics and healthcare differ from other industries you've worked in?

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_01]: First of all, it's that you will stakes incredibly high.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And so these are robots that surgeons use to operate on people.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And we want to be in robotics because we want to be in surgery.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_01]: We believe the future of surgery will be robotics surgery.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Robotics surgery is less invasive.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_01]: It's more precise and it has the potential to create.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And we know from our own experience with our two robotic platforms that it leads to better outcomes.

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And so we really excited about where we can take it from there.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_01]: One of the ways that robots in medical tech differ from say a robot in a car or a robot in your home

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_01]: is that these are robots that are really designed specifically to be aids and assistance to highly skilled and highly trained professionals.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_01]: We don't think of robotics in the net tech areas as a replacement for physicians.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_01]: It really is an augment, a TATION, two physicians.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_01]: We're excited to be able to put these robots in the hands of these skill clinicians so that they can create better outcomes.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And we're seeing that happen every day for the patients that we serve in a truly, fully.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: It's very promising and there's life at stake.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: So so the precision is key.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And we know technology is and will continue to disrupt healthcare and no conversations complete without mentioning AI.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: How would you compare this technological revolution to others you've seen?

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And what's your outlook for how it will change healthcare?

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure, even before you get to AI, one of the great things about robotics and in the context of surgery and clinical procedures is that because it's a robot.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it has the ability to ensure greater consistency as well as greater accuracy and also give the clinician a more ergonomic experience.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_01]: So if you take all three of those and you add to that the sort of intelligence that AI would bring,

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_01]: now you can take it to the next level and that's what we're doing with our robot platforms.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: We're adding automation and planning so that before you even get to the procedure that you're going to do with the robot,

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_01]: you've done some pre procedure planning assisted by AI so that the procedure is personalized to the person being operated on.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Our image got a robot, Ms. Or does exactly that with 3D image planning for the spinal surgery.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_01]: To lead to a personalized more accurate placement of screws and a more positive outcome for the patient.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And this is the future of surgery during the procedure itself, the AI algorithms can guide the surgeon to ensure that they can conduct the surgery with more accuracy and more precision and more consistency.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And then after the surgery, the procedure can be reviewed by the surgeon so they can see where could they have maybe done even better or how could they use that as a teaching tool to for surgeons that are earlier in their career or for medical students that are looking to go into the field.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_01]: So this whole creates a full pipeline of technology that allows us to close the loop on delivering better outcomes and better care.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And this, the combination of AI and digital platforms in robotics is the future of personalized care.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's why we want to be in robotics. That's why we're leaning forward with our AI investments. And this is how we're bringing it together to create better outcomes.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Can I love it? I love your passion for robotics for technology that really advances the human cause and it's exciting to hear the commitment that matronic has to to robotics and the furthering of human health.

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_00]: What call the action would you leave the listeners with here as we conclude today's podcast?

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_01]: This might call the action would be to open your pores of imagination and think about which companies are leading the way and it's my message is really pretty straightforward.

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_01]: It's metronic is committed to the future of surgery with robotics and the future of better health care with technologies like artificial intelligence and digital.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_01]: For example, our Hugo robot it gets it comes with a digital platform that allows this surgeon to review their work afterwards.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_01]: And so this is an example of the future that's coming. And the future is only going to get brighter with the technologies as it admit.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: The future is as the adoption for proceeds. And I'm really excited about what that future will look like in terms of personalized care better outcomes and better that just the better experience.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_00]: That's great. And we're excited about the future. You and metronic are creating for all of us.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And folks take Ken's call to action, open your pores get creative and see what the future can be like. Can thanks so much for being with us today.

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_00]: So all is my pleasure.