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Surgical technology
CAE beefs up surgical simulation
offerings
MONTREAL – CAE Healthcare, a
division of CAE, announced that it has acquired part of Immersion’s
medical simulation business unit. Immersion, based in San Jose, Calif.,
is a leading provider of haptic (touch feedback) technology. Three
product lines are part of the acquisition and will form the core
offerings of CAE Healthcare’s newly established surgical simulation
division.
The acquisition of Immersion’s assets supports CAE Healthcare’s strategy
to provide a full range of best-in-class medical education and
simulation solutions across a worldwide market.
The agreement includes Immersion’s Endoscopy AccuTouch, Laparoscopy
Virtual Reality (VR), and Endovascular CathLab VR simulators. These
surgical simulators allow surgeons to practice procedures and acquire
skills to perform minimally invasive surgeries, including bronchoscopies,
upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopies and cardiac valve
replacements.
More than 500 of these systems have been installed worldwide. In
addition, Immersion will grant CAE Healthcare a non-exclusive worldwide
license for the TouchSense haptic technology in medical training
applications.
“We are committed to delivering the best training solutions to improve
patient safety, and the acquisition of Immersion’s surgical training
systems will accelerate our entry in the growing surgical simulation
market,” said Guillaume Herve, President of CAE Healthcare.
“We welcome the Immersion team, and look forward to providing our new
customers with continuous service support,” said Herve. “By combining
the expertise of the Immersion team with CAE’s more than six decades of
modelling, simulation and training experience, we intend to offer a
complete solution for surgical simulation.”
Immersion’s medical line of business designs, manufactures, and markets
computer-based virtual reality simulation training systems with
realistic touch feedback that allows clinicians and students to practice
and improve minimally invasive surgical skills in an environment that
poses no risk to patients.
The advanced haptics are fundamental in providing an unequalled learning
experience as they provide simulation on how a procedure or exercise
actually feels. The medical business unit includes more than 30
employees in North America, a network of surgical subject matter
experts, as well as 14 distributors and sales offices in Europe, Asia
Pacific and South America.
“We are proud of the pioneering work that we have accomplished in the
surgical simulation market,” said Victor Viegas, Interim CEO of
Immersion. “We believe that CAE Healthcare provides a great opportunity
for our medical employees, customers, and distributors to take our
simulation business forward. At Immersion, we will focus our core
strategy on what we do best – building reference designs and licensing
TouchSense haptics solutions to all markets, including healthcare. We
welcome CAE Healthcare as a new customer as we continue to capitalize on
the medical market through our licensing model.”
About Immersion
Haptic (touch) technology is the future of user experience in digital
devices. Founded in 1993, Immersion harnesses human touch to create user
experiences that deliver a more compelling sense of the digital world.
Using one of Immersion’s adaptable high fidelity haptic systems,
partners can achieve a competitive advantage and greater revenue
opportunities with products that are more intuitive, satisfying,
efficient, and safe. With Immersion technology, world-class companies
can deliver improved user experiences in products such as widely popular
video games, leading video console gaming systems, advanced automotive
driver controls, and award-winning mobile phones. With over 800 issued
or pending patents in the U.S. and other countries, Immersion is the
leading innovator in touch-enabled user experiences that bring the
digital universe to life.
www.immersion.com
About CAE Healthcare
CAE Healthcare is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CAE, a world leader in
providing simulation and modelling technologies and integrated training
solutions for the civil aviation industry and defence forces around the
globe. CAE Healthcare is applying CAE’s training, simulation and
modelling know-how from aviation to bring best practices to healthcare.
It is developing cutting-edge learning tools and innovative simulation
solutions for healthcare education with the objective of offering
healthcare professionals the opportunity to develop practical experience
on multiple simulation platforms before testing their skills on
patients. The ultimate goal is to improve clinical competence and
expertise and enhance the quality and safety of patient care and the
efficiency of healthcare systems.
www.cae.com/healthcare
About CAE
CAE is a world leader in providing simulation and modelling technologies
and integrated training solutions for the civil aviation industry and
defence forces around the globe. With annual revenues exceeding C$1.6
billion, CAE employs more than 6,500 people at more than 90 sites and
training locations in 20 countries. We have the largest installed base
of civil and military full-flight simulators and training devices.
Through our global network of 29 civil aviation and military training
centres, we train more than 75,000 crewmembers yearly. We also offer
modelling and simulation software to various market segments and,
through CAE’s professional services division, we assist customers with a
wide range of simulation-based needs.
www.cae.com
Posted April 8, 2010
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