Computer Vision News - March 2022

26 Exclusive Interview about Surgical Robotics can achieve more sophistication in terms of mechanics right now, but we can achieve much more in terms of interaction with AI. The first step is elaborating virtual images to help the surgeon interpret a patient’s anatomy better and adopt the right strategy to reach the target and avoid collisions. Think of it like playing chess. The human mind can do very well, and there are probably some champions who could defeat the computer. Still, in general, the computer is much better at playing chess because it can perform millions of operations in a fraction of the time. It is the same for surgery. The computer can calculate in milliseconds the risk of collision and damaging important structures while you are navigating to reach your target. It can tell you, no, this is not the right direction, you have to change approach, or instead of coming from the left to reach a tumor in the middle of the liver, it is better you pass to the right or from the bottom, or the back. AI can do this better than the human mind. Will you need real-time imaging and great surgical intelligence software to understand what is happening? Absolutely. The next important development is to overlap and integrate virtual images into real- time surgery. The surgeon can decide to overlap or replace the standard images with the virtual images elaborated by AI. This could was like having a Formula One car still in development! If you have a good pilot, that can compensate for the state of the vehicle. I was a good pilot, so I could compensate for any problems in the surgery. It was in the infancy of the project. Now, the system is much more refined. It is much simpler than it was 20 years ago. It is easier to guide and perform even in a sophisticated operation. What new developments in AI would make your work easier? From a mechanical standpoint, the robot is very well refined, and I do not think we