THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE HAS ARRIVED

Boston’s Mass General Hospital Advances Robotic and AI-Assisted Surgery

BY JAMES HOLDEN

The new buzzword on the lips of many in research and medicine is ‘robotics.’ But, to an unknowing public lacking comprehensive knowledge or understanding of mechanically-assisted surgery (theorized over 50 years ago and first used in the late 80s), it’s oddly being positioned by some as a new—in so much as a revolutionary surgical method; that on its own, has left the station.

The dawn of advanced surgical treatments has eclipsed outdated techniques and is entering an intersection filled with technological advances; the new direction of robotics is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and roboticassisted procedures orchestrated by surgeons and soon to be guided by fully automated equipment in surgical suites monitored by medical staff. Sound far-fetched? It’s not.

In an article published in the National Library of Medicine (Mahendra Bhandari, Reddiboina, 2020), the authors summarize, “The next iteration of surgical robots conform human-initiated actions to a personalized surgical plan leveraging 3D digital segmentation generated prior to surgery. The advancements in cloud computing, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence have led to increased research and development of intelligent robots in all walks of human life. Inspired by the successful application of deep learning, several surgical companies are joining hands with tech giants to develop intelligent surgical robots.”

With this comes true advancement rather than a reliance on existing technology and practices. Leading hospitals have already enlisted AI into patient diagnostics and treatment, with a vision of more remarkable progress on the cusp of discovery.

Old-school surgical intervention is evolving with a new crop of doctors with the insight and skills necessary to meet the demands of the latest technology. Not unlike handing the key to a Lamborghini with 740 horsepower and a top speed of 217 mph to a new driver, physicians performing robotic surgery with AI and 3D combined must have unequivocal skills and training that begins as a resident rather than taking a course mid-career; not that ongoing education isn’t relevant, but, it’s more about understanding how the learning and practice of new and abstract technology are accumulative.

Even Intuitive, a leader in robotic surgical technology, having completed more than 10 million procedures using their machines, stresses the importance of “highly experienced surgeons” taking on the task of advanced surgeries using their tools.

The dawn of advanced surgical treatments has eclipsed outdated techniques and is entering an intersection filled with technological advances; the new direction of robotics is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic-assisted procedures orchestrated by surgeons and soon to be guided by fully automated equipment in surgical suites monitored by medical staff.

Boston’s Mass General Hospital, ranking #1 in U.S. News & World Report, 2022-2023, as Best Hospitals in New England and the #1 Research Hospital in America, has a dedicated program for training robot-assisted surgery.

According to the hospital, whose board-certified Harvard Medical Schoolaffiliated physicians perform some of the highest volumes of robotic-assisted surgery in New England, found that high-volume experience provides the best outcomes for patients. Translation, the more you do—the better the results.

In addition to Mass General surgeons excelling in robotic surgery, they combine their effort with enhanced 3D visual capacity when performing delicate procedures.

Going beyond what most hospitals offer, Mass General has a Surgical Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Laboratory (SAIIL) comprised of a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, researchers, scientists, and engineers developing state-of-the-art techniques and tools to create real-time intraoperative care and achieve automatic analysis and evaluation.

With these developments, a doctor can make life-or-death decisions based on previous experience and have real-time nationwide data to assess their patients’ surgical success and post-operative health.

Under the guidance of a skilled team of medical staff making extraordinary medical decisions and using technology similar to a GPS for the body, patients will relish the added comfort they experience, knowing they are provided a standard of care unmatched by any other. H

To learn more about Robotic-Assisted Surgery at Mass General, visit massgeneral. org/surgery/treatments-and-services/roboticsurgery.