Royal Cornwall Hospital deploys AI tool for secure surgical videos

Royal Cornwall Hospital has deployed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that allows clinicians to view case videos safely and securely.

Touch Surgery Enterprise enables automatic processing and viewing of surgical videos for clinicians and their teams without compromising sensitive patient data.

These videos can be accessed via mobile app or web shortly after the operation to encourage self-reflection, peer review and improve preoperative preparation.

In a usual hospital setting, surgical videos are often left unused due to the vast amounts of sensitive patient data they contain, according to Digital Surgery, the company behind Touch Surgery Enterprise.

But the company’s hardware, the DS1 computer, plugs into existing recording equipment in a theatre and runs real-time artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to redact all frames containing potentially identifiable patient and clinician information.

The videos are then uploaded to a secure Amazon Web Services hosted space and are available to download via Touch Surgery Enterprise software immediately.

James Clark, consultant upper gastrointestinal and bariatric surgeon at the trust, said: “Having seamless access to my surgical videos has had an immense impact on my practice both in terms of promoting patient safety and for educating the next generation of surgeons.

“I am now able to sit down with my trainees immediately after the case and review exactly what happened in detail. The tool has made the time between cases an invaluable window for teaching, learning and reflection.

“I can also securely share my videos with my surgical and non-surgical colleagues within the hospital, which helps to encourage discussion and ferment ideas which ultimately promotes a better and safer surgical service for Cornwall.”

It’s the first time this technology has been deployed in the UK.

Dr Jean Nehme, chief executive of Digital Surgery, added: “With this deployment, we accelerate surgery towards more consistent and higher quality outcomes using cutting-edge computer vision products.

“Innovations in anaesthesia and med tech have transformed the way surgery is performed. However, we can and should always find opportunities to do better for patients.”