Not so long ago, we examined how chip stock Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) new line of chips failed to really excite investors. In the process, we found a new link between Nvidia and healthcare, as it worked to potentially find a way to replace nurses with artificial intelligence. As it turns out, this was not the only such move Nvidia was envisioning, and it wasn’t the only time that artificial intelligence and other such technologies have dipped into the healthcare field.
Back in 2010, what might have been the first major connection between robotics and healthcare emerged in Japan. Known as Paro the Seal, The Wall Street Journal referred to it as “…the cuddliest medical device to ever cause an ethical quandary.” Indeed, at $6,000 each, Paro the Seal posed a difficult question: Could a robot be used effectively to care for the elderly?
Admittedly, Paro’s use case was comparatively limited. It couldn’t carry the elderly to a bath or pick them up off the floor should they fall. Yet, Paro could provide a virtually nonstop level of interaction between itself and a patient. After some initial learning curve issues, Paro could ultimately provide a measure of care that was best used to supplement, but not completely replace, the human element.
Replacing the Human Element
And that’s where Nvidia comes in. The notion of supplementing humans in healthcare has been around for over a decade now. But Nvidia might be ready to go farther than that. One of Nvidia’s first collaborative efforts was between itself and Hippocratic AI, which provides hospitals, clinics, and the like with generative AI nurses. Hippocratic AI’s primary selling point is its cost savings; it points out that standard nurses can run as much as $90 an hour, depending on location and other factors. Hippocratic AI, meanwhile, can do the job at a 90% discount – just $9 an hour.
Nvidia also set up a new deal with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) to combine Nvidia’s AI work with Johnson & Johnson’s MedTech operations. Since MedTech supports around 75 million surgical procedures a year, that’s a lot of data coming out of the system. With the extra AI element, that data can be better analyzed for patterns and, hopefully, actionable insights.
That’s just for starters, though; we’ve already seen how Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) has performed thousands of surgeries with its Da Vinci robot, and a similar tool—the spaceMIRA from Virtual Incision—recently performed simulated surgery on the International Space Station…while the operator was in Nebraska. Connecting an AI to these robots could produce a complete robotic surgical suite and, potentially, a much lower-cost operation for hospitals.
Is Nvidia a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on NVDA stock based on 39 Buys and two Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 230.08% rally in its share price over the past year, the average NVDA price target of $975.73 per share implies 8% upside potential.
