TY - JOUR
T1 - A Review on the Current Applications of Artificial Intelligence in the Operating Room
AU - Birkhoff, David C.
AU - van Dalen, Anne Sophie H. M.
AU - Schijven, Marlies P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - Background. Artificial intelligence (AI) is an era upcoming in medicine and, more recently, in the operating room (OR). Existing literature elaborates mainly on the future possibilities and expectations for AI in surgery. The aim of this study is to systematically provide an overview of the current actual AI applications used to support processes inside the OR. Methods. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and IEEE Xplore were searched using inclusion criteria for relevant articles up to August 25th, 2020. No study types were excluded beforehand. Articles describing current AI applications for surgical purposes inside the OR were reviewed. Results. Nine studies were included. An overview of the researched and described applications of AI in the OR is provided, including procedure duration prediction, gesture recognition, intraoperative cancer detection, intraoperative video analysis, workflow recognition, an endoscopic guidance system, knot-tying, and automatic registration and tracking of the bone in orthopedic surgery. These technologies are compared to their, often non-AI, baseline alternatives. Conclusions. Currently described applications of AI in the OR are limited to date. They may, however, have a promising future in improving surgical precision, reduce manpower, support intraoperative decision-making, and increase surgical safety. Nonetheless, the application and implementation of AI inside the OR still has several challenges to overcome. Clear regulatory, organizational, and clinical conditions are imperative for AI to redeem its promise. Future research on use of AI in the OR should therefore focus on clinical validation of AI applications, the legal and ethical considerations, and on evaluation of implementation trajectory.
AB - Background. Artificial intelligence (AI) is an era upcoming in medicine and, more recently, in the operating room (OR). Existing literature elaborates mainly on the future possibilities and expectations for AI in surgery. The aim of this study is to systematically provide an overview of the current actual AI applications used to support processes inside the OR. Methods. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and IEEE Xplore were searched using inclusion criteria for relevant articles up to August 25th, 2020. No study types were excluded beforehand. Articles describing current AI applications for surgical purposes inside the OR were reviewed. Results. Nine studies were included. An overview of the researched and described applications of AI in the OR is provided, including procedure duration prediction, gesture recognition, intraoperative cancer detection, intraoperative video analysis, workflow recognition, an endoscopic guidance system, knot-tying, and automatic registration and tracking of the bone in orthopedic surgery. These technologies are compared to their, often non-AI, baseline alternatives. Conclusions. Currently described applications of AI in the OR are limited to date. They may, however, have a promising future in improving surgical precision, reduce manpower, support intraoperative decision-making, and increase surgical safety. Nonetheless, the application and implementation of AI inside the OR still has several challenges to overcome. Clear regulatory, organizational, and clinical conditions are imperative for AI to redeem its promise. Future research on use of AI in the OR should therefore focus on clinical validation of AI applications, the legal and ethical considerations, and on evaluation of implementation trajectory.
KW - artificial intelligence
KW - black box
KW - computer vision
KW - deep learning
KW - innovation
KW - machine learning
KW - neural networks
KW - operating room
KW - surgery
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101984710&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1177/1553350621996961
DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/1553350621996961
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33625307
SN - 1553-3506
VL - 28
SP - 611
EP - 619
JO - Surgical innovation
JF - Surgical innovation
IS - 5
ER -