There are several emerging AI technologies that aim to enhance surgical care pathways over the coming decade. In particular, these are related to (1) diagnostics, (2) pre-operative planning, (3) intra-operative guidance and (4) surgical robotics.¹ This trend has been mirrored bn the sharp increase in the number of surgical studies evaluating the use of AI.

Despite this fervour, very few AI devices have reached the point of clinical implementation within surgical environments.² This disconnect between ‘in silico bench’ and ‘bedside’ is a multifaceted issue related to technological, regulatory, and economic factors. However, this divide is also exacerbated by the variable quality of study reporting in this field; an issue perpetuated by the absence of AI-specific reporting guidelines for both pre-clinical and clinical AI studies. Read More