Artificial intelligence in thoracic surgery: past, present, perspective and limits

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is becoming prevalent in many areas of everyday life. The healthcare industry is concerned by it even though its widespread use is still limited. Thoracic surgeons should be aware of the new opportunities that could affect their daily practice, by direct use of AI technology or indirect use via related medical fields (radiology, pathology and respiratory medicine). The objective of this article is to review applications of AI related to thoracic surgery and discuss the limits of its application in the European Union. Key aspects of AI will be developed through clinical pathways, beginning with diagnostics for lung cancer, a prognostic-aided programme for decision making, then robotic surgery, and finishing with the limitations of AI, the legal and ethical issues relevant to medicine. It is important for physicians and surgeons to have a basic knowledge of AI to understand how it impacts healthcare, and to consider ways in which they may interact with this technology. Indeed, synergy across related medical specialties and synergistic relationships between machines and surgeons will likely accelerate the capabilities of AI in augmenting surgical care.

FIGURE 1

Brief history of artificial intelligence (AI).

FIGURE 2

Potential applications of artificial intelligence in thoracic surgery in a clinical pathway. CT: computed tomography. The third image is courtesy of https://pngimage.net/. The fourth image represents the Da Vinci Xi surgical robot system (patient's cart and surgeon's console) from Intuitive Surgical.