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Surgical Precision: The Impact of AI and Robotics in General Surgery

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "General Surgery".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2025 | Viewed by 319

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Practice Plus Group, Imperial College London, London, UK
Interests: general surgery; hepatobiliary surgery; minimally invasive surgery

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The adoption of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is arguably the most important surgical development over the past four decades, allowing for rapid recovery from many procedures. Computer-assisted laparoscopy in the form of robotic platforms has gained traction more recently, and we are witnessing a surge in the number of general surgical procedures performed robotically. There are many perceived benefits of robotic platforms compared to both laparoscopy and open surgery. However, there is no clear consensus on whether this results in improved patient outcomes.

The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has opened new avenues for applying computers to improve healthcare. There has been a rapid increase in AI across other specialties, notably radiology, which has laid the path for applying computer science to surgery. There are three areas that we believe will make a significant impact in the future of surgery: training and credentialling surgeons with improved simulation and the analysis of movement metrics and surgical videos; creating patient-specific 3D images to aid pre-operative surgical planning; and developing intra-operative navigation tools which will display vital anatomical structures, assisting surgeons with dissection and resection.

This issue will explore the evidence to date, comparing robotic and open operations in general surgery and highlight the technological advances being made to support surgical training, decision making, and operations, possibly improving surgical patient journeys in the future.

The topics will include the following:

  • What can we learn from randomised controlled trials in robotic general surgery specialties;
  • Training and credentialling in robotic general surgery;
  • Technological advances in pre-operative planning;
  • Technological advances in intra-operative navigation.

Dr. Tamara M. H. Gall
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • robotic surgery
  • artificial intelligence in surgery
  • surgical training
  • AR in surgery
  • 3D imaging
  • surgical navigation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

13 pages, 3360 KiB  
Review
Technological Advances in Pre-Operative Planning
by Mikolaj R. Kowal, Mohammed Ibrahim, André L. Mihaljević, Philipp Kron and Peter Lodge
J. Clin. Med. 2025, 14(15), 5385; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14155385 - 30 Jul 2025
Abstract
Surgery remains a healthcare intervention with significant risks for patients. Novel technologies can now enhance the peri-operative workflow, with artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR) to assist with pre-operative planning. This review focuses on innovation in AI, XR and imaging for hepato-biliary [...] Read more.
Surgery remains a healthcare intervention with significant risks for patients. Novel technologies can now enhance the peri-operative workflow, with artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR) to assist with pre-operative planning. This review focuses on innovation in AI, XR and imaging for hepato-biliary surgery planning. The clinical challenges in hepato-biliary surgery arise from heterogeneity of clinical presentations, the need for multiple imaging modalities and highly variable local anatomy. AI-based models have been developed for risk prediction and multi-disciplinary tumor (MDT) board meetings. The future could involve an on-demand and highly accurate AI-powered decision tool for hepato-biliary surgery, assisting the surgeon to make the most informed decision on the treatment plan, conferring the best possible outcome for individual patients. Advances in AI can also be used to automate image interpretation and 3D modelling, enabling fast and accurate 3D reconstructions of patient anatomy. Surgical navigation systems utilizing XR are already in development, showing an early signal towards improved patient outcomes when used for hepato-biliary surgery. Live visualization of hepato-biliary anatomy in the operating theatre is likely to improve operative safety and performance. The technological advances in AI and XR provide new applications in pre-operative planning with potential for patient benefit. Their use in surgical simulation could accelerate learning curves for surgeons in training. Future research must focus on standardization of AI and XR study reporting, robust databases that are ethically and data protection-compliant, and development of inter-disciplinary tools for various healthcare applications and systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surgical Precision: The Impact of AI and Robotics in General Surgery)
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