London-based health tech start-up Digital Surgery has announced this week that it has developed and demonstrated an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to guide surgical teams in the operating room (OR).

The innovation is said to be paving the way for how AI and associated technologies will help clinicians deliver ‘safer surgeries’ in the future, according to Dr Jean Nehme, Digital Surgery CEO.

The platform reportedly acts as a ‘navigational system’ to address variables that surgical teams face, from staff turnover to tools and training or cultural barriers.
It is believed that the AI can spot what is happening during the surgery through a camera view, and is then able to cross-check the information against what the start-up describes as ‘the largest library of surgical roadmaps’. The OR team has real-time access to this data.

Dr Sanjay Purkayastha, Consultant Laparoscopic, Bariatric & Robotic Surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said AI supported surgery would become ‘common practice’ in the next five years.  

“This is something my OR teams, clinical teams and I would look forward to and will truly impact patient care,” Dr Purkayastha added.

Daniel Buchbinder, from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the US, said the impact of a technological advancement similar to this breakthrough was ‘astounding’.
Earlier this year, Digital Surgery announced that it was partnering with University College London Hospitals and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in a first step towards creating an OR 'digital ecosystem'.