AI helps with more precise surgery
While artificial intelligence has proven to be a valuable tool for automating repetitive, laborious tasks, it has also become a valuable resource for simplifying complex tasks. There is no better example of this approach to AI than how it can be utilised in the operating room, where surgeons and pathologists use it to help with processes like disease diagnosis to make operations safer and more successful.
Many AI tools in the operating room are designed to augment the surgeon’s perception. In other words, the goal is to help medical professionals see issues more quickly and accurately and respond to them promptly, allowing them to make more informed decisions in the operating room and create better patient outcomes.
AI diagnosis tools
The key feature of artificial intelligence that enables it to be such a powerful tool for medical professionals is its power for data analysis. In situations where repetitive conditions are present, such as diagnosing cancerous tissues, this ability to quickly recognise patterns can make biopsies and operations quicker, safer, and more efficient. Considering that the current workforce of surgeons is already stretched incredibly thin, any innovation that can allow these skilled medical professionals to accomplish their jobs more easily and effectively could play an instrumental role in saving lives.
This feature could be particularly useful during surgery because it reduces the need for complicated, time-consuming pathology procedures. Steps like staining cells and mounting slides constitute most of the time for human pathologists to make diagnoses. Eliminating these processes streamlines the decision-making process, allowing medical professionals to take quicker action — particularly in time-sensitive situations.
Recently, the National Institute of Health (NIH) conducted a study with 278 patients undergoing brain surgery, in which they took small tumour biopsies during brain surgery, fed them into a computer in the operating room, and received a diagnosis that rivalled the accuracy of an expert pathologist. According to this study, the accuracy of the machine in returning a proper diagnosis was approximately 95% — a slight improvement over a traditional pathologist’s 94% accuracy rate. With these results, AI has established itself as a powerful tool for medical professionals.
Life-saving AI in the operating room
However, artificial intelligence has proven helpful for medical professionals in more cases than solely diagnosis. AI tools have been created and leveraged to help with surgeons’ efficiency and success in operating rooms, which can significantly affect the medical industry as a whole, from making procedures safer to reducing strain on limited resources like ICU beds and ventilators.
Some of the powerful ways in which AI technology is being leveraged inside the operating room include:
- Risk assessment: AI can be a powerful tool in conducting pre-operative risk assessments, ensuring that patients are prepared for surgery and that medical professionals are alerted to any external conditions that may affect the operation's success.
- Intraoperative guidance: AI technology can provide surgeons with valuable guidance in the operating room. From detecting cancerous tissues to enabling endovascular navigation, AI can be critical in the development of non-invasive surgeries and help reduce collateral damage to surrounding tissues and organs.
- Multiple serial evaluations: AI tools allow medical professionals to conduct multiple serial evaluations, allowing them to conduct tests in real time and giving them the best chance to remove all cancerous tissue in one operation. This also reduces the risk of bias that human professionals bring to the situation.
How surgeons can use AI in the operating room to improve patient outcomes
As broad as AI’s practical uses have become in healthcare, it is still essential to note that the use cases for AI in the operating room are merely tools to supplement — not replace — the efforts of a trained human surgeon or pathologist. Human oversight is still necessary to ensure these automated tools achieve maximum effectiveness.
For example, in the NIH study, there were 14 cases in which the machine made an incorrect diagnosis, and the human pathologist was able to identify the correct result in each of these instances. This shows that, when working in tandem, human pathologists or surgeons and AI machines can create the best possible outcomes for patients.
Still, automation on this level could prove to be tremendously useful for medical professionals in dangerous circumstances where traditional surgical teams are not practical. For example, a surgeon might not have an extensive support team on battlefields or in disaster areas, which is where AI-powered surgical robots could provide the assistance medical professionals need to conduct emergency operations in the field safely, sufficiently, and quickly.
By using artificial intelligence to streamline processes like diagnosis and intraoperative guidance in the operating room, surgeons have the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes. Studies have already found that these tools are an incredible resource to help make medical professionals’ jobs safer and more efficient. In a time when medical professionals are struggling with staffing shortages that prevent them from consistently providing the level of care their patients need and deserve, this innovation could be a game-changer — not to mention a lifesaver.
