Complementing Surgeons with Situation Awareness using Computer Vision

We’re happy to share the highlights from our AI^2 forum held on Wednesday, October 25th. This event, towards the beginning of the new academic year, featured Dr. Duygu Sarikaya, a Lecturer within the School of Computing, who discussed her advanced work in AI and healthcare.

One of Dr Sarikaya’s research interests is the application of AI in Healthcare settings, and her recent work has concentrated on surgical vision and perception and medical image computing. She is a previous Fulbright Scholar and gained her PhD from New York State University under the supervision of Prof J Corso. Duygu is actively involved in the running of MICCAI, having organised the First and Second International Workshops on Context-Aware Operating Theatres and is a board member of Women in MICCAI.

Dr. Duygu Sarikaya delivered an enthusing talk titled “Complementing Surgeons with Situation Awareness using Computer Vision”, where she discussed the integration of AI in surgical settings. She explored how situation-aware operating theaters, powered by advances in computer vision and machine learning, can provide real-time guidance and cognitive assistance to surgeons. Herein, she discussed 5 levels of robot autonomy, and how we are only at the first step of the most limited assistance and how full robot surgery is a long way away. But Dr. Duygu Sarikaya also presented a case that with recent advances in computer vision and machine learning, combined with surgical knowledge representation we can create data driven and situation aware operating theatres which can comprehend and predict outcomes and actions, and provide real-time guidance to surgical teams.

After the talk, and to welcome newcomers and foster a sense of community, we organized an icebreaking activity that sparked creativity and interaction among participants. Here we split everyone into small groups and got attendees to play a version of Would I Lie To You, where each attendee would tell two truths and one lie about themselves to their group. Then the others in each group would ask questions and try to identify the lie. This was a fun way to get to know each other at the start of the academic year.

Attendees enjoyed Dr. Sarikaya’s presentation for its depth and relevance, sparking numerous discussions on the future of AI in surgical procedures. We extend our gratitude to Dr. Sarikaya for her invaluable insights and to all attendees for their active participation.

As we step into a new academic year, we remain committed to bringing insightful talks and fostering a collaborative community in AI research and application. Stay tuned for our upcoming events and be a part of this exciting journey in AI!

Best regards,

The AI^2 Committee

Blog written by: Samuel Llanwarne