The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Surgery

Artificial Intelligence has begun to revolutionize almost every aspect of daily life today, including finance, education, transportation, and more. Recently, however, it has even begun to be applied in healthcare, specifically in performing/assisting in surgical procedures. AI holds promise in improving patient care and safety, and may sometimes even enhance the skills of human surgeons. The conversation surrounding AI usage in the healthcare field is hopeful while also raising questions about ethics and safety.

AI has already begun to make significant advancements in medicine. For instance, it has been applied to ophthalmology, allowing medical officials to diagnose certain diseases/disorders in the eye, such as glaucoma. Furthermore, it can be used to predict the potential risk for eye surgeries such as LASIK, with an accuracy sometimes being as high as 93%. Furthermore, it has been used in orthopedics and neurosurgery to improve the efficiency of surgical procedures and predict diagnoses. In the study Kunze et al., it was discovered that AI can be a very useful tool for detecting meniscus tears and ACL.

In addition to helping diagnose patients and effectively assisting in surgeries, AI has also made it much easier to analyze large data sets of patient information, solve problems, and make inferences from statistical data. In some hospitals, AI assists nurses on call by answering patient questions using a chatbot. Since AI is able to scan data from numerous databases at once, it can accurately analyze patient records and suggest medication for the patient. In Radiology, AI has been used to assist physicians by examining X-rays very quickly at a much faster rate than one surgeon could do alone. It can also be used as a way to train aspiring physicians and surgeons by serving as a mentor. 

Despite all of these promising advantages of implementing AI in medicine, it is important to note that AI is not meant to replace surgeons and other medical experts, but rather to help support them in their decision-making and various tasks. There are also certain drawbacks to using AI in medicine that need to be taken into consideration. For instance, if an AI bot is trained on biased datasets that under-represent certain demographics, it may not accurately represent the general population, leading to unequal healthcare. It is also important that steps are taken to handle patient data responsibly and ensure that patient privacy is respected. Finally, another major concern is that relying too heavily on AI can lose crucial human connection. Many patients value human contact while at the doctor's or in surgery, and the use of AI in surgery can ruin this dynamic.

Overall, AI shows promise in revolutionizing medicine and surgery. It can improve the accuracy of patient diagnoses, enhance precision during surgeries, and assist medical professionals in time-consuming tasks such as reading X-rays. However, it is important not to overstep any boundaries concerning patient privacy and not rely too heavily on AI.

by Hawi Teju at Incisionary

APA References

AI Is Poised to “Revolutionize” Surgery. (2023). ACS. https://www.facs.org/for-medical-professionals/news-publications/news-and-articles/bulletin/2023/june-2023-volume-108-issue-6/ai-is-poised-to-revolutionize-surgery/

Amin, A., Cardoso, S. A., Suyambu, J., Saboor, H. A., Cardoso, R. P., Husnain, A., Isaac, N. V., Backing, H., Mehmood, D., Mehmood, M., Maslamani, A. N. J., Amin, A., Cardoso, S. A., Suyambu, J., Saboor, H. A., Cardoso, R. P., Husnain, A., Isaac, N. V., Backing, H., & Mehmood, D. (2024). Future of Artificial Intelligence in Surgery: A Narrative Review. Cureus, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.51631

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