AI in Surgery: Improving Precision and Care Before, During, and After

We know AI is the future of healthcare but can they really do surgery? Traditionally, surgeons operated through large incisions, leading to more blood loss and slow recovery times. Minimally invasive surgery reduces this trauma to the patient's body through small cuts using specialized instruments and cameras. 

This not only reduces bleeding but also supports quick recovery and low risk of infection. Robotic surgery also helps surgeons see hard-to-reach areas with tight spaces and high risk. But how AI is assisting robots and surgeons? Let’s see. 

How is AI Helping in Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures?

1. Precision at Its Best

Complex surgeries like those of the heart or brain require greater precision. Even a small error can put patients' lives at risk. AI-powered robotic systems help surgeons achieve precision that's impossible with traditional practices and instruments. 

For example, the popular robotic system, da Vinci Surgical System assists surgeons in prostatectomies and heart valve repairs. The tiny arms of the system copy the surgeon's hand movements, reducing accidental damage to the surrounding tissues.

Benefits for Surgeons:

• Precision in high-risk surgeries.
• More refined and controlled actions during surgeries. 
• Great accuracy, even in difficult-to-reach areas.

Benefits for Patients:

• Faster healing.
• Fewer complications.
• Shorter hospital stays.

2. Personalized Preoperative Planning

AI is helping surgeons in OT rooms and the pre-planning phase. By integrating with the cameras and sensors, AI helps surgeons understand the complexities of the area to be operated on and take the first steps. 

For example, AI can analyze medical images and assist in creating detailed, personalized surgical plans before brain surgery. It can map out the best route to reach a tumor and remove it without damaging the critical nerves of the brain and their functioning. 

In another example of AI in spine surgery, surgeons can get 3D models of the patient's spine and plan the most effective placement of screws and rods. Early planning reduces the risks and nerve damage during the operation. 

Benefits:

• Personalized insights for each surgery, increasing the chances of success. 
• Early warning of potential risks during the operations and prepare for them in advance. 

3. Real-Time Decision Support During Surgery

Surgeries sometimes do not go according to the plan. Depending on several factors, complications can occur in real-time. Traditionally, success rate relied on the surgeons' experience and proactiveness. But in a few cases, even experienced surgeons cannot make the right judgements due to serious complications or limited visibility in the surgical area. 

AI can also assist surgeons in such situations. It can guide them when they need to adjust their approach and when they can take the risk. AI-powered robots continuously fetch realistic data from various sources, such as patients' vital signs, sensors, imaging systems, etc. 

Surgeons can see all this information at once and reconsider their approaches.

Benefits for Surgeons:

• High chances of success.
• Less human error.
• Quick response to unexpected situations during complex procedures.

Benefits for Patients:

• Fewer complications.
• Shorter operating times. 

4. Enhancing Collaboration Among Surgeons

Multiple surgeons, from neurosurgeons to cardiac surgeons, sometimes have to work together. Coordination is important in such scenarios, especially if specialists operate remotely or virtually. 

AI in surgery bridges the gap, giving different specialists a common platform to collaborate. Everyone gets the same real-time insights, ensuring they're aligned on the status of the patient's conditions and the next steps. 

5. Surgeon Training and Skill Enhancement

Beyond improving robotic surgical procedures, AI is changing how new and inexperienced surgeons receive training. AI-powered simulation tools help surgeons practice complex procedures in a virtual environment, giving them the real feel of OT.

Several U.S. medical institutions use AI and VR technology to train surgeons in robotic-assisted surgeries. They get hands-on training in a real environment to practice minimally invasive surgeries like orthopedic and laparoscopic procedures. 

Artificial Intelligence and Surgery: The Post Impact on Patients 

Once the operation is done, that's not the end of the surgery. The final phase, the postoperative phase, is very important for both patients and the surgical team. What happens to the patients after surgery is important to understand how future surgeries will be. 

The surgical team must constantly monitor the current patients and prepare for the new patients lined up for the operation. Balancing both can cause stress and burnout among the team, increasing the need for tools that can assist in postoperative care. 

AI can help! It can monitor the patients closely and warn about complications so that timely intervention can be performed. Meanwhile, the surgical team can prepare for the next surgeries without any worries. 

Real-World Examples of AI-Assisted Surgery

AI enables human surgeons to work with robot surgeons without any challenges and with touchless manipulation. By manipulation, we mean movements of hands, heads, or speech that could impact AI-assisted surgery in real-time. 

Here are some real-world examples of such inventions:

• FAce MOUSe offers an interface between humans and robotic laparoscopy. Human motions control the movement of robots. 
• AI for Microsurgery Intervention is used to stitch tiny blood vessels of size 0.03-0.08 millimeters. It also helps control the trembling movements of the surgeon's hand during the surgery. 
• Da Vinci Surgical System, the AI system, is used in many countries, from the US to Germany, for surgical procedures like prostatectomies, hysterectomies, and cardiac valve repairs. It has shown 98% success in removing gallstones. 

Conclusion

We never thought that we could hear the two words "Artificial intelligence and surgery" together. 

But their combination is improving the lives of patients who undergo critical surgeries. Surgeons' experience and predictive analytics of AI in surgery are making even complex surgeries safer and more successful. 

From preoperative to postoperative, AI is useful at every stage of the surgical procedure. While challenges will exist, like how AI will guide decisions or protect data, we cannot ignore the positive outcomes of AI-assisted surgery.