KARL STORZ Acquires Medical Business of Visual Collaboration Software Company T1V

TUTTLINGEN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 8, 2025--

The family-owned MedTech company KARL STORZ is pleased to announce the acquisition of the medical business of T1V, a US-based visual collaboration software company. KARL STORZ has had a longstanding partnership with T1V to build its existing CollaboratOR portfolio. This acquisition marks a significant step for KARL STORZ in shaping integrated hardware and software solutions for digital surgery in global operating rooms, complementing its state-of-the-art endoscopes and high-end medical solutions. The CollaboratOR has been sold exclusively through KARL STORZ since 2018.

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T1V drives technological solutions in the operating room

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, T1V is a leading innovator in large-scale, interactive technology. The CollaboratOR portfolio offers a sophisticated hardware and software cloud ecosystem accessed through a large-format touch display. This system provides surgical staff with real-time clinical data, pre-operative and real-time images, preference cards, and other critical data throughout the peri-operative process. The cloud ecosystem is integral to enabling real-time collaboration during surgery and is designed to significantly improve workflow for major healthcare enterprises. KARL STORZ’s extensive customer base, including healthcare enterprises worldwide, will benefit from the integration into the company of T1V’s digital competencies and intellectual property, which includes all its patents in visual collaboration software. This will enhance capabilities in multi-touch data interaction, cloud-based collaboration, low-latency streaming, multi-view windowing, and remote support. The CollaboratOR is a crucial part of KARL STORZ's digital ecosystem offering, which will continue to grow.

Commitment to meet the future needs of healthcare partners

“This strategic acquisition underscores our commitment to preparing for future opportunities to advance progress in digital surgery and shape the future of medicine,” said Stefan Ort, KARL STORZ’s Chief Operating Officer. “It ensures the future development of our CollaboratOR range, which enhances our ability to empower healthcare partners to excel daily, improving patients' lives globally.” The acquired T1V medical business will be fully integrated into KARL STORZ over the next 12 months, including all operations, research and development activities, sales support, and technical services. As part of the acquisition, a team of ten T1V employees relevant to the medical business will transition to KARL STORZ. Christy Gaudet, KARL STORZ’s Vice President Sales & Marketing Surgical & OR1 in the US, added: “Hundreds of successful CollaboratOR installations exemplify our dedication to innovation and digitalization. We are proud to offer a unique, best-in-class integration solution, highlighted by CollaboratOR and strengthened by this acquisition.”

About KARL STORZ

The medical technology company KARL STORZ was founded in 1945 in Tuttlingen, Germany, and is an international leader in the world of endoscopy. Now in its third generation, the family-owned company employs 9,400 people in more than 40 countries worldwide. The company portfolio includes 13,000 products for human and veterinary medicine. KARL STORZ stands for visionary design, precision craftsmanship and clinical effectiveness. Production sites are located in Germany, the USA, Switzerland and Estonia. For more information, please visit: www.karlstorz.com

About T1V

T1V is a visual collaboration software company, providing cutting-edge solutions that bring teams together in high-impact spaces. Its flagship platform, ThinkHub ®, delivers a dynamic digital workspace designed for seamless, flexible collaboration, empowering teams to connect from anywhere, on any device. T1V also partners with industry leaders as a white-label product development shop, designing exclusive, touch-interactive products customized to meet the unique needs of each industry. Its software ecosystem supports complete interoperability with a wide range of devices, programs, and platforms, enhancing today’s collaborative meeting and learning spaces. For more information, please visit: www.t1v.com

KARL STORZ has acquired the medical business of T1V, its partner in manufacturing the CollaboratOR portfolio of large-format interactive touch displays, designed to empower surgical teams with real-time clinical data and images to enhance collaboration and streamline workflows. (Photo: Business Wire)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Massive wildfires burning in the Los Angeles area have filled the air with a thick cloud of smoke and ash, prompting air quality advisories across a vast stretch of Southern California.

Three major fires broke out Tuesday amid dangerously high winds, killing at least five people and destroying more than 1,000 structures. Tens of thousands of people have been told to evacuate, many in harrowing conditions.

In Altadena where one of the major fires raged, the smoke was so thick a person used a flashlight to see down the street. A dark cloud hovered over downtown Los Angeles and smoky air and ash drifted well beyond the city to communities to the east and south.

Wildfire smoke increases tiny particles in the air known as particulate matter that can be harmful to people's health. Children, the elderly and people with conditions such as heart and lung disease are more sensitive to the effects.

Dr. Puneet Gupta, the assistant medical director for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said wildfire smoke is known to cause heart attacks and worsen asthma, and that burning homes can also release cyanide and carbon dioxide. He said sickened patients are showing up in emergency rooms when hospitals already are full because of flu season, and some hospitals could also face evacuations due to the fires.

“We have a number of hospitals that are threatened, and if they have to be evacuated, it could become a crisis,” said Gupta, also a spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians. “So that is one of the things that we have to consider.”

U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra raised concerns Wednesday about the smoke's impact on people’s health in the aftermath of fires that have charred massive amounts of vegetation and buildings.

“That air that’s being spewed is no longer just the kind of smoke that we used to see from wildfires, where it was natural vegetation that was burning,” said Becerra, a former California Attorney General. “Now you got a whole bunch of toxic materials that are getting burned and put into the air.”

About 17 million people living across Southern California are covered by smoke and dust advisories issued for the three wildfires, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The smoke advisory was expected to last until late Thursday. A dust advisory was also in effect until late Wednesday as gusty winds could kick up ash and dust from prior fires and further worsen air conditions, the district said.

The worst conditions were in the vicinity of the fires with some areas covered in thick, gray smoke. In East Los Angeles, the air quality index hit an unhealthy 173. Good air quality is considered to be 50 or less.

But dozens of miles away, air quality also was deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups including the elderly and young children. Officials in the city of Long Beach about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Los Angeles warned residents to take precautions due to the smoky air, and in coastal Rancho Palos Verdes the air quality index measured 108, which is considered unhealthy for those sensitive to pollution.

Winds from the northwest were expected late Wednesday and Thursday to push air from the regions where fires were still burning toward the south across Los Angeles and Orange counties and east toward San Bernardino County.

People living in areas affected by wildfire smoke should try to stay indoors and keep windows and doors shut to limit their exposure.

They should avoid vigorous physical activity and run air conditioning or an air purifier, and should not use house fans that draw in outside air.

For those who must be outside, a respirator mask can offer some protection, according to air quality regulators.

Spot fires along a hillside burn the Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Thick heavy smoke from wildfires shrouds downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Thick heavy black smoke from wildfires moves in over downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

High winds blow as thick smoke from wildfires shrouds downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)