Trauma Center (video game series)

Trauma Center is a series of video games developed by Atlus and published by Atlus (Japan, North America) and Nintendo (Europe). Beginning with Trauma Center: Under the Knife in 2005 for the Nintendo DS, the series released four more entries on the DS and Wii. The gameplay is split between a surgical gameplay simulation, and visual novel storytelling. While the main characters of the games vary, the games share a common setting of a near-future Earth where advanced medical procedures have cured most diseases, including cancer, AIDS, and influenza. A recurring organisation is Caduceus, a worldwide, semi-covert medical research foundation that is a branch of the World Health Organization. The games commonly feature outbreaks of various man-made diseases that pose a significant threat to humanity, as well as themes of bioterrorism.

The series was created by Katsura Hashino, who wanted to use the DS's controls to explore a simulation type only previously possible on PCs. Following the first game, a dedicated production team dubbed "CaduceTeam" was created to handle future games. Beginning with the Wii remake Second Opinion, the series was directed by Daisuke Kanada.