Santa Barbara-based medical equipment maker TrueVision Systems plans to enter a joint venture with one of the biggest health care technology firms in China.

TrueVision makes a 3-D heads-up display system that attaches to microscopes used in brain, spine and eye surgery, along with software that helps guide the surgeon’s cuts. Think “Avatar” meets neurosurgery.

The firm signed a deal outlining a joint venture with the Weigao Group, a publicly traded Chinese medical device and equipment maker with a $29 billion market capitalization. In the venture, a new Weigao subsidiary would make and sell TrueVision’s 3-D system in China, and the Santa Barbara company would continue to sell U.S.-made systems in the domestic market.

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