Digital Surgery, The Surgery of The Future : Surgery 4.O

Some consider digital surgery as the surgery of the future, “fourth generation surgery”, “4.0 surgery” or smart surgery.

Recent advancements in digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR), are propelling innovation growth to unprecedented levels.

Digital surgery: the fourth generation of surgery

Digital surgery is an evolution of robotic surgery initiated by Intuitive Surgical, which launched the revolutionary da Vinci system in 1999 in Europe and in 2000 in the United States to help surgeons perform mini-invasive surgery, more precise and less invasive surgery, with 3D vision.

Through its ability to provide the surgical team with scientific and analytical data, new knowledge, and 5G connectivity, the modern operating room can now reach higher levels of efficiency.

The advantages of digital surgery technologies:

• Advanced surgical navigation and visualization

• More precise and less invasive surgery

• Reduction of surgeon distraction (having to look at a remote monitor) and cognitive load

• Reduction of surgical errors

• Improved communication between surgeons and decision-making

• Real 3D surgical simulations for interactive surgical team practice

Smarter, less invasive, safer, and more personalized surgery.

The digital surgery ecosystem:

Recent technological advances in mini-invasive surgery, including the adoption of digital surgery ecosystems by several large medical device companies, dominate the space of robotic surgery through well-known robotic surgery platforms, such as intuitive surgery. (da Vinci platform) , J&J/Auris Health (MONARCH), and Medtronic (HUGO Robotic-Assisted Surgery, MAZOR X Stealth Edition).

Next-generation robotic surgical systems have also entered the market through key acquisitions of innovative startups, such as Verb Surgical and Orthotaxy (by J&J).

Next-generation digital surgical ecosystems are using AI, AR, and VR to transform surgeries into safer, more intelligent, less invasive, and more personalized interventions to improve patient care delivery.

Surgeons can learn and improve through machine learning and AI. These advanced systems drive growth in the global market for digital surgical technologies and encompass the following six core technologies:

• Preoperative planning

• Pre-surgical anatomical recognition

• Intraoperative visualization

• Surgical navigation

• Workflow management

• Analysis of surgical performance

Overall, digital surgery allows the surgical team to get smarter data through artificial intelligence, advanced instrumentation, visualization, and connectivity.

Digital surgery promises surgical procedures with fewer surgical errors and complications, improving patient outcomes in an ever-expanding field of non-invasive surgery.

Digital surgery ushers in the era of patient-centricity. Rather than focusing solely on the anatomy, surgeons will operate with an enriched understanding of an individual’s specific attributes: including the human phenome, physiome, microbiome, genome, and epigenome.