The Laboratory of Modern Anatomical Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Experimental Surgical Research, “Asclepius” at the Department of Nursing of the National Academy of Sciences of the University of Athens, Greece, has proceeded with digital mapping of genetic material, and through a special program, a prediction is made for the occurrence of specific cancers, says to Praetorio Fm and Tania Mantuvalou, the director of the Laboratory, Professor of Surgery and Anatomy at the University of Athens, Theodoros Mariolis-Sapsakos. It is worth mentioning that the laboratory was created with the exclusive donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and was inaugurated last March. This mapping, says Mr. Sapsakos, goes into a large database, through which a person and his family are alerted to the risks they may face in the future. “The huge databases may have existed in previous years in both Greek and foreign hospitals, but there was no possibility of evaluation, utilisation and personalisation. For example, someone may have five relatives who have a health problem, but the combination of hereditary, familial and personal DNA gives statistical data, which gives the profile of tomorrow to this person. And the program we have is for colon, breast and thyroid cancer.”
Virtual surgery before regular – AI a powerful ally of botulinum toxin
As Mr. Sapsakos says, his laboratory is in the process of bringing to Greece a technique called digital twin, which involves virtual surgery, which doctors will be able to perform before the real one, in order to see what difficulties they will face when they go to operate on the patient. “This project was designed at MIT and it’s really impressive to let doctors and patients alike know what the risks and possibilities are, in a virtual surgery that will have been done the day before the regular surgery. Which means if I do this virtual surgery and I find a difficulty, I will be able to communicate before I operate on the patient, with another specialist centre in the world and exchange information, so that I can go to the real surgery better informed and prepared.”
According to Mr. Sapsakos, 780 students from the University of Athens, not only from the School of Health but also from other schools such as the School of Fine Arts, have been trained in the Laboratory for the part of aesthetics that concerns the human body.
“At the moment, through artificial intelligence, with special models we can see the anatomical points where any cosmetic operation should be performed without approaching the body, so the errors made even in the injections used by plastic surgeons are significantly reduced.”
Medical anatomical identification errors are checked for 100.000 deaths internationally
Can artificial intelligence really reduce medical errors? In which areas more so? Diagnosis, surgery, or drugs, the professor was asked. “Right now in the United States medical errors mainly in surgery cost a few billion dollars. Also, the good cardiac surgeon, or the good neurosurgeon, or the general surgeon, can make a mistake because of incorrect anatomical identification (i.e. incorrect organ identification) and such mistakes account for about 100,000 deaths a year around the world. These mistakes can be prevented by AI because it is above CT, above MRI, above pet ct, and above the surgeon’s experience.” There is a fear that at some point AI will replace doctors. Is this fear realistic or are we talking about a tool to help them, was the last question asked to the distinguished surgeon? “There is a lot of talk about bioethics in the scientific community. At the last world conference dealing with artificial intelligence there was a large contingent of American doctors who expressed this fear, that AI may replace them. But as long as human cognition exists, there is no way AI can replace human thinking.”
