Researchers from HealthTech Nexus, a collaboration between the University of Twente and Radboud University Medical Centre, are investigating whether artificial intelligence (AI) can learn something that experienced surgeons often do instinctively: estimate tissue tension during surgery. If successful, AI could help surgeons further improve their surgical techniques and potentially reduce complications.
Many surgical procedures are performed using laparoscopic or robotic instruments. These procedures are routinely recorded on video. Surgical videos play an important role in the training and assessment of surgeons, but analysing them is time-consuming.
‘An experienced surgeon spends approximately 45 minutes reviewing a surgical video,’ says Dr Frans van Workum, gastrointestinal surgeon at the Radboud University Medical Centre and Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital. ‘At the same time, more than 100,000 hours of surgical video footage are generated every year in the Netherlands.’
AI as an additional pair of eyes
AI systems can already analyse various aspects of surgical procedures, such as the duration of specific surgical steps, the number of unnecessary instrument movements, and the amount of blood loss. The assessments made by these systems often closely match those of experienced surgeons.
However, one crucial element is still missing: estimating tissue tension. During surgery, surgeons stretch and separate tissue to perform precise dissections. Correctly assessing the tension applied to tissue is essential for preventing damage to surrounding structures.
‘When we separate two pieces of tissue, we often work at the point where the tension is greatest,’ says Van Workum. ‘Learning to feel that tension is a skill surgeons acquire only after years of experience. Computers cannot currently perceive it, but we want to investigate whether they can learn to recognise it.’
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