Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (President Tsuyoshi Kikukawa) and WebSurg S.A. (Founder Prof. Jacques Marescaux*, CEO Bernard Seguin) have concluded an agreement to provide content based on Olympus' endoscope product range to WebSurg.com (http://www.websurg.com/) dedicated to the introduction of endoscopic techniques to surgeons.
Olympus and WebSurg jointly produce the endoscopic surgical videos on techniques performed by the world's leading surgeons using Olympus products. We have posted the first video on WebSurg.com and will make additional videos available sequentially. The overall objectives of this agreement are to make a positive contribution to the field of medical education and to support the spread of endoscopic surgery. At the same time, Olympus aims to expand its own product sales.
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Prof. Jacques Marescaux, the founder of WebSurg, is an internationally renowned laparoscopic surgeon. He is the head of the department of digestive and endocrine surgery at the Hospices Civils of Strasbourg, France and also the chairman of IRCAD-EITS which he founded in 1994. |
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| Example: Education Section Page |
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| About WebSurg.com |
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WebSurg.com is the world's leading online training site for medical practitioners in the field of surgery. Operating on a subscription membership basis, it uses the Internet to introduce endoscopic surgical techniques to surgeons worldwide. The site went on line in January 2001. Currently it offers in excess of 300 videos, 1000 photographs, animations and other visual training materials on over 100 surgical techniques, featuring more than 100 world-renowned surgeons.
Websurg.com is available in Japanese, English and French. The content of websurg.com is also accredited in the American Continuing Medical Education (CME) thanks to a cooperation with the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
Members each pay an annual subscription fee of USD499 or EUR499. Instead of traveling long distance, members can learn surgical techniques directly over the Internet.
The founder and editor-in-chief of WebSurg.com is Prof. Jacques Marescaux who is also the founder and chairman of IRCAD-EITS* (European Institute of Telesurgery), a leading training institution in the field of endoscopic surgery. WebSurg.com is being operated through a global network of surgeons to share surgical techniques and related expertise developed at the IRCAD-EITS.
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IRCAD-EITS:A leading training institution, currently accepting around 3,000 trainees per year. |
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| Outline of Olympus's involvement in WebSurg.com |
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The agreement with WebSurg calls for both independent and joint production of training videos and other online information related to the Olympus endoscope product family.
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Content production will involve top surgeons in the field from all around the world, taking advantage of the contacts between doctors and Olympus |
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The delivery of content based on Olympus products will afford WebSurg.com members access to information on the latest medical equipment. |
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WebSurg.com will also provide links to the Olympus web site. |
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| About Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. |
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| Head Office: |
Shinjuku Monolith, 3-1, Nishi-shinjuku 2-chome,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0914 Japan |
| President: |
Tsuyoshi Kikukawa |
| Paid-in Capital: |
40,832 millions of yen (End of March, 2002) |
| Consolidated Net Sales: |
528,415 millions of yen (End of March, 2002) |
| Number of Employees: |
4,345 (End of March, 2002) |
| Main Business: |
Manufacturing and sales of equipment and devices relating to the fields of medical and healthcare, imaging and information, and industrial applications: medical endoscopes, microscopes, clinical analyzers, reagents, genome analysis system, cameras, digital cameras, microcassette and IC recorders magneto-optical disc drives, printers, barcode scanners, industrial endoscopes, measurers and motors; others. |
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| About WebSurg S.A. |
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| Head Office: |
23, Boulevard de l'Orangerie, 67000 Strasbourg, France |
| Board members: |
Bernard Gilly chairman of the board, partner at Sofinnova, a leading venture capital company and former president of Transgene. Turi Josefsen former president of Autosuture, US Surgical. Vivendi Universal Publishing, represented by Philippe Leduc and Pierre Duthilleul. Phillipe Remes General Manager of Cryolife, former European VP of Autosuture, US Surgical, Philippe Levy, President of Staff Consultants |
| Paid-in capital: |
9,146,844 Euro (End of Year 2001)
The two largest shareholders outside of the founding team are Societe Generale Asset Management, a leading French Bank and Vivendi Universal Publishing |
| Consolidated Net Sales: |
1,024,000 Euro (End of Year 2001) |
| Number of employees: |
31 (End of Year 2001) |
| Nature of business: |
Surgeon training and education on the internet |
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*Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. was changed to OLYMPUS CORPORATION as of October 1, 2003.
