Surgery's Future: Surgeons Can Visualize Procedures Thanks To Digital Technology

 Surgery's Future: Surgeons Can Visualize Procedures Thanks To Digital Technology

A wide range of inventions in virtually every sector have been made possible by information technology. In almost every field, artificial intelligence is important. It has advanced the field, regardless of whether we are discussing the media, financial institutions, education, or even health. It is clear how important cutting-edge technology, intelligent systems, and new inventions are from the improvements in many areas of the health industry.

Medical practitioners use their hands to manipulate an image of organs in the air while donning AR glasses connected to a digital system and penetrating a patient’s Chest wall using a long needle. The system enables visualization of the position and the depth of the needle puncture to successfully evaluate and analyze the pulmonary nodule accurately using a green line.

The Shanghai Chest Hospital is where the procedure is happening. Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, has provided doctors a new approach to work effectively and cause patients' less suffering and inconvenience. The development of technology has made it possible for doctors to work more effectively. The use of minimally invasive surgery in early-stage lung cancer surgery has grown significantly with the development of clinical technologies.

One of the most difficult and unpleasant tasks for most patients is pulmonary nodule localisation. When doctors use a long needle to enter the chest wall and detect the nodule with the aid of a CT scan, the procedure is agonizing. The only method that keeps motionless while the lengthy needle is inserted into the chest is regional anesthesia. This makes the surgery complicated, necessitating the presence of at least three medical professionals. A nurse is also required to observe the entire procedure and closely monitor the patient until they enter the operating room.

Additionally, the procedure adds to the workload in the CT room. "The anxiety and pain patients experience during the process was the biggest motivation for my colleagues to team up with computer engineers from Xenova, a startup company in Shanghai, to develop a digital system to solve the issue," says Dr. Cheng Xinghua of the Department of Oncology at Shanghai Chest Hospital.

Using the patient's data, doctors create a digital twin of the patient before surgery. The method creates a computerized patient shape that includes internal details like tumors, blood arteries, and skin. The technology generates a needle puncture with an accurate position, path, and placement. To create pre-plans and prepare patients for surgery, doctors build surgical plans and even simulate possible emergencies and unfavorable outcomes.

The system currently holds five patents and has applied for industrial applications.
Cheng Xinghua, “The technology can not only be used in early-stage lung cancer surgery but other surgeries, such as liver surgery, brain surgery, and bone surgery, to provide an immersive guidance for surgeons and improve accuracy and efficiency.”
“For plastic surgery, the system can also forecast the result, allowing the doctor and the patient to understand better.”