How Artificial Intelligence Can Help Doctors in Complex Surgeries

New Delhi, February 26: Automation through Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made the healthcare industry more efficient and sustainable. Not only it improves the recovery time with no post operative complications in patients but also eases off the work of a surgeon. AI always has been a boon to the surgeon that helps them with high precision and accuracy which helps in optimizing their performance in no time. The following are the few latest technologies that have proved to help the doctors:

1. 3D Printing: According to CA (Dr) Ruchi Gupta, Founder and CEO, 3hcare.in, an online health portal - "Application of 3D printing has seen a swift rise in the field of medical interventions and diagnosis and the artificial intelligence is transforming the industry. The technology helps the surgeon to exactly figure out the anatomy of the organ making it easy for better diagnostics and understanding.3D objects of any imaginable shape can be printed with very high precision that helps the doctors to analyse even the most complex anatomical models with ease."Size of a heart valve varies from person to person which makes it difficult for a surgeon to identify the exact sizing.

In case of pediatric cardiology, where complex heart diseases require accurate anatomical description for better interpretation and correct intervention, this technology helps in producing the exact replica of the heart which is the most complex part to observe otherwise.Traditional methods may require re-intervention in some cases, where this model eliminates them and provides shorter cardiopulmonary bypass time, circulatory arrest time and fewer residual lesions.An operating room with such improvements transforms a quicker recovery and shorter post-operative stay.

Apart from planning and carrying out complex interventions in congenital heart disease, coronary artery disease, and surgical and catheter-based structural disease, this has numerous applications in various fields of medical science.Usually this method is popular in planning of heart operation, spine and other orthopedic procedure. Any organ or tissue can be made in nearly any imaginable geometry through the translation of x-ray, MRI, or CT scans.

2. Robotic O-Arm: Dr Vipul Gupta, Director, Agrim Institute of Neurosciences, Artemis Hospital, said, "The O-Arm is a progressive and an innovative surgical imaging system to allow the surgeons to perform minimally invasive spine surgeries with greater precision, accuracy and most importantly safety.

This resembles an imaging system that acts just like a GPS to help the surgeon guide his way during the surgery for accuracy and precision. 'O'-Arm also known as 360 degree Robotic arm is the latest technological advancement which is revolutionizing in the field of neurosurgery.

"The imaging system is linked to a computer navigation allowing the surgeons to visualize the complete spinal structure in real time.O - Arm is a boon for the surgeons to plan, implement and confirm the success of the surgery as soon as the patient even leaves the operating room.The robotic system has the potential to eliminate tissue and muscle disruption, blood loss during the surgery and post operative deformities that makes it safer for the patients with better outcome and recovery.

Moreover the setup being completely mobile can be moved to any desired location within no time, making it useful for parallel interventions as well. A surgeon's access to the patient is increased with optimal positioning and workflow. Also the high power magnification helps in capturing the most complex anatomy of the spinal bones and nerves for better visualization and intervention which is essential for safe and effective performance of a surgeon."

3. CyberKnife: Dr Aditya Gupta, who is aneurosurgeon, cyberknife at Artemis Hospital said, "CyberKnife radiation surgery is one of the most advanced & non invasive therapy available for treating benign as well as malignant tumors with the use of precise beams of high-dose radiation. It is a painless day-care treatment where the patients are discharged soon after the session gets over and hence eliminating the need for hospitalisation. The treatment uses a sophisticated image guidance system to beam high doses of radiation directly to your tumor.

It is most useful in cases which are hard to access especially in the brain or lungs."M6 Cyberknife is highly precise equipment that not only diagnoses but also treats any kind of tumor in no time.

It further prevents the cancerous cells from multiplying. The main aim of the therapy is to preserve the healthy cells and at the same time to only target the harmful ones.CyberKnife is a non-invasive, real-time motion tracking technology for accurate delivery of high-dose radiation therapy. Instead of a bulky head frame, CyberKnife patients are provided with a soft, mesh mask during the treatment. Moreover, treatment with CyberKnife is flexible; imaging is performed few days in advance, thereby leaving the radiation oncologist with enough time to design and finalize a customized treatment plan."

4. Neuronavigation -GPS in Brain: According to Dr Sumit Singh, Director - Neurology, Artemis-Agrim institute of Neurosciences, "Neuronavigation technology' acts like a GPS inside the brain to locate tumor accurately. There is no need to shave the head bald and only a small incision need to be made to remove the tumor.

Post surgical disfigurement is also avoided. It helps create an accurate image of the brain, in order to remove brain tumor and other abnormalities directly, safely, and effectively during the surgery. It reduces the need for the patient to undergo a second surgery and also reduces the risk of surgical complication."When this technology is used in combination with neuro-navigation system, that navigate the brain during the surgery, without damaging the vital areas of the brain.

This technology is similar to GPS and tracks and shows the exact area of tumor that helps the surgeons to make the exact cut, and eliminating the need to completely shave the head.Neuronavigation has become an omnipresent tool in the surgical management of brain tumors. These systems enable surgeons to visualize the anatomy of a patient's brain during surgery and precisely track the location of their surgical instruments in relation to the anatomy - even accommodating for the brain shift that occurs during surgery.

Using technologies during procedures like tumor resections, surgeons can navigate more precisely, perform less-invasive procedures, and help improve clinical outcomes. Neuronavigation is recognized as the next evolutionary step of stereotactic surgery.

In its infancy the purpose of this technology was to create a mathematical model describing a proposed coordinate system for the space within a closed structure, e.g., the skull. This "fiducial spatial coordinate system" uses fiducial markers as a reference to describe with high accuracy the position of specific structures within this arbitrarily defined space. The surgeon then refers to that data to target particular structures within the brain.