Becker's Spine Review

13 SPINE How spine surgery will evolve with AI, analytics By Alan Condon A rtificial intelligence and machine learning are emerging as disrup- tive technologies that have the potential to significantly improve clinical decision-making in spine surgery. While AI is still in its infancy in healthcare, its potential to transform spine surgery is vast. As the technology develops and becomes more widely ad- opted, surgeons will have the ability to plan surgical strategies with ad- vanced platforms; safely, reliably and expeditiously place implants; and predict the correction and define goals of spine surgeries. "We will truly have a more comprehensive approach to the patients in terms of planning, execution and patient-reported outcomes," Ronald Lehman Jr., MD, of New York City-based Columbia Orthopedic Surgery, told Becker's. "Using data and predictive analytics will allow us to tell each patient what their expected results will be before they consider a spine surgery, and also, perhaps, who best to perform the surgery, as all of our metrics, as surgeons, will be available as well." In spinal deformity, algorithms have been developed to accurately inform the surgeon in real time of the risk and benefit of a particular procedure for a specific patient. Other algorithms are being built to suggest the ideal alignment parameters for a specific patient based on their unique anatomy, and devices such as patient-specific rods have been designed to help sur- geons achieve these goals. "As outcomes from these surgeries are collected and added to the datasets, machine learning allows the algorithm to become even more accurate," ac- cording to David Kaye, MD, of Philadelphia-based Rothman Orthopaedic Institute. "In a drive to improve patient outcomes, AI allows for assimila- tion of big data and interpretation in a meaningful and trainable way. ese tools will become an increasingly important part of the preoperative, intra- operative and postoperative management of our patients, and may allow safer, more effective and more cost-efficient surgery moving forward." Spinal deformity procedures are typically larger and more complex cases that are performed for patients who are experiencing significant pain and contribute to a difficult quality of life. "We don't want to undertake these larger surgeries without really being granular in guiding our patients about what to expect and how to achieve those corrections intraoperatively," said Saad Chaudhary, MD, of New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System. "When we place all these param- eters about patients, such as their disease status, their bone quality, their specifics and spine needs, into an algorithm which uses AI technology, we hope we can better predict and better effectuate a good, effective treatment option for them." n 16 hospitals receive Healthgrades' Spine Surgery State awards By Carly Behm H ealthgrades honored 16 hospitals across four states with its 2022 Spine Surgery State Ranking Award. The hospitals were measured on patient outcome data for back and neck surgery and spinal fusions, according to a May 6 news release. California Los Robles Regional Medical Center (Thousand Oaks) Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center Saint Agnes Medical Center (Fresno) Sutter Medical Center-Ose Adams Medical Pavilion (Sacramento) Palomar Medical Center Escondido Florida Ascension St. Vincent's Southside Hospital (Jacksonville) Ocala Regional Medical Center (recently renamed HCA Florida Ocala Hospital) Doctors Hospital of Sarasota (recently renamed HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital) Brandon Regional Hospital (recently renamed HCA Florida Brandon Regional Hospital) Adventhealth Ocala Illinois HSHS St. John's Hospital (Springfield) OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center (Rockford) Javon Bea Hospital-Rockton (Rockford) New York Albany Medical Center Hospital Hospital For Special Surgery (New York City) St. Peter's Hospital (Albany) n "We will truly have a more comprehensive approach to the patients in terms of planning, execution and patient-reported outcomes." - Ronald Lehman Jr., MD. Columbia Orthopedic Surgery

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