Digital surgery pioneer uses proprietary colorectal artificial intelligence mode during surgical procedure at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
BOSTON – January 9, 2023 — Activ Surgical, a digital surgery pioneer, today announced that it has completed its first artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled case using its product, ActivSight™ Intelligent Light (ActivSight), which aims to provide enhanced visualization and real-time, on-demand surgical insights in the operating room. ActivSight is an easy-to-adapt module that seamlessly attaches to today’s laparoscopic and robotic systems and integrates with standard monitors. On December 22, 2022, Matthew Kalady, MD, FASCRS, Chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, performed a laparoscopic left colectomy, which is the surgical removal of the left side of the large bowel most often due to colon cancer, using the colorectal AI mode within ActivSight. Activ Surgical is currently conducting a clinical study with Ohio State Wexner Medical Center to evaluate the utility and usability of ActivSight.
“While using one of ActivSight’s intraoperative visual overlays, the dye-free ActivPerfusion™ Mode, I was able to clearly see key critical structures in the surgical site and tissue perfusion in real-time,” said Dr. Kalady. “With the press of a button, the colorectal AI mode was enabled, removing distractions of background signals from non-bowel tissue and clearly focusing on perfusion to the colon. There was a clear difference in visualization during AI mode.”
In ActivPerfusion Mode, the device uses laser speckle technology on the entire view to show blood perfusion. Once enabled, the colorectal AI mode isolates the ActivPerfusion display to the targeted tissue, in this case, the colon, to minimize cognitive burden for the surgeon by eliminating the distraction of seeing blood perfusion in the entire scene.
“At Activ Surgical, we are driven to learn from every procedure using enhanced, real-time visualization capabilities combined with augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning technology so that we can deliver intelligent information to doctors around the world to reduce surgical complication rates,” said Manisha Shah-Bugaj, Chief Executive Officer at Activ Surgical. “With this latest milestone, we usher in a new standard of patient care and safety and will continue to build on our progress using AI technology.”
Activ Surgical is transforming the operating room today through its 501(k)-cleared ActivSight that seamlessly upgrades existing operating room equipment while serving as the “eyes” of their ActivEdge platform. With ActivSight, surgeons can now access critical intraoperative visual data as augmented reality overlays. In 2021, the ActivSight module was cleared by the FDA and successfully used in first-in-human/IRB studies. To date, multiple major hospital networks across the U.S. and Europe have been established as pilot sites. In 2022, ActivSight received CE Mark approval, which validates that it meets the requirements of the European Medical Devices Regulation, allowing Activ Surgical to commercialize the enhanced imaging system across the European Union and other CE Mark-required regions.
“With this procedure, we have shown that we can deploy proprietary models that have been trained with our datasets, annotated with our experts and our pipeline, and developed with our team and partners,” said Shah-Bugaj. “We are collaborating with global technology leaders to assist us with optimizing storage, integration, and inference. When all of this advanced tech is installed in the OR, our novel sensing brings it to life, and the results are incredible.”
About Activ Surgical
Activ Surgical is the pioneering digital surgery company that completed the world’s first autonomous robotic surgery of soft tissue in 2018. The company aims to transform the collective surgical experience by leveraging emerging technologies and data into insights that make world-class surgery accessible for all, and for every surgical imaging system to deliver intelligent information that reduces surgical complication rates, ushering in a new standard of patient care and safety. Activ Surgical is privately held, and backed by Cota Capital, BAM Funds, Hikma Ventures, Mint Ventures, Castor Ventures, Dream One Vision, NVIDIA, DNS Capital, GreatPoint Ventures (GPV), Artis Ventures, Tao Capital Partners, LRVHealth, Rising Tide VC, SONY Innovation Fund, 8VC, Fiscus Ventures, Peak 6 and Reimagined Ventures. Learn more at activsurgical.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.