Sequential surgical signatures in micro-suturing task

Purpose

Surgical processes are generally only studied by identifying differences in populations such as participants or level of expertise. But the similarity between this population is also important in understanding the process. We therefore proposed to study these two aspects.

Methods

In this article, we show how similarities in process workflow within a population can be identified as sequential surgical signatures. To this purpose, we have proposed a pattern mining approach to identify these signatures.

Validation

We validated our method with a data set composed of seventeen micro-surgical suturing tasks performed by four participants with two levels of expertise.

Results

We identified sequential surgical signatures specific to each participant, shared between participants with and without the same level of expertise. These signatures are also able to perfectly define the level of expertise of the participant who performed a new micro-surgical suturing task. However, it is more complicated to determine who the participant is, and the method correctly determines this information in only 64% of cases.

Conclusion

We show for the first time the concept of sequential surgical signature. This new concept has the potential to further help to understand surgical procedures and provide useful knowledge to define future CAS systems.

     

Towards computer-assisted TTTS: Laser ablation detection for workflow segmentation from fetoscopic video

Purpose

Intrauterine foetal surgery is the treatment option for several congenital malformations. For twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), interventions involve the use of laser fibre to ablate vessels in a shared placenta. The procedure presents a number of challenges for the surgeon, and computer-assisted technologies can potentially be a significant support. Vision-based sensing is the primary source of information from the intrauterine environment, and hence, vision approaches present an appealing approach for extracting higher level information from the surgical site.

Methods

In this paper, we propose a framework to detect one of the key steps during TTTS interventions—ablation. We adopt a deep learning approach, specifically the ResNet101 architecture, for classification of different surgical actions performed during laser ablation therapy.

Results

We perform a two-fold cross-validation using almost 50 k frames from five different TTTS ablation procedures. Our results show that deep learning methods are a promising approach for ablation detection.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this is the first attempt at automating photocoagulation detection using video and our technique can be an important component of a larger assistive framework for enhanced foetal therapies. The current implementation does not include semantic segmentation or localisation of the ablation site, and this would be a natural extension in future work.

     

Deep learning with convolutional neural network for objective skill evaluation in robot-assisted surgery

Purpose

With the advent of robot-assisted surgery, the role of data-driven approaches to integrate statistics and machine learning is growing rapidly with prominent interests in objective surgical skill assessment. However, most existing work requires translating robot motion kinematics into intermediate features or gesture segments that are expensive to extract, lack efficiency, and require significant domain-specific knowledge.

Methods

We propose an analytical deep learning framework for skill assessment in surgical training. A deep convolutional neural network is implemented to map multivariate time series data of the motion kinematics to individual skill levels.

Results

We perform experiments on the public minimally invasive surgical robotic dataset, JHU-ISI Gesture and Skill Assessment Working Set (JIGSAWS). Our proposed learning model achieved competitive accuracies of 92.5%, 95.4%, and 91.3%, in the standard training tasks: Suturing, Needle-passing, and Knot-tying, respectively. Without the need of engineered features or carefully tuned gesture segmentation, our model can successfully decode skill information from raw motion profiles via end-to-end learning. Meanwhile, the proposed model is able to reliably interpret skills within a 1–3 second window, without needing an observation of entire training trial.

Conclusion

This study highlights the potential of deep architectures for efficient online skill assessment in modern surgical training.

     

Offene Arthrolyse des Kniegelenks

Background

Loss of range of motion of the knee joint causes significant disability. Surgical treatment should include arthroscopic as well as open arthrolysis procedures.

Objectives

Impairments of extension and flexion can have capsular or extra-articular origins in the musculature. The techniques of open capsulotomy and interventions on the proximal and distal extension apparatus are presented.

Methods

Discussion on the indications and surgical techniques for open arthrolysis of the knee joint are presented based on own results and the available literature.

Results

The established surgical techniques can significantly improve the range of motion considering the severity of this case group.

Conclusions

An exact analysis of the cause of knee stiffness is necessary. Only intra-articular problems can be arthroscopically treated and open techniques are indicated when the stiffness is caused by an extra-articular pathology. The techniques are established and reproducible.

     

Minimally invasive techniques for lumbar decompressions and fusions

Purpose of review

The purpose of this study is to summarize the recent literature investigating the use of minimally invasive (MIS) techniques in the treatment of lumbar degenerative stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and scoliosis.

Recent findings

MIS lumbar decompression and fusion techniques for degenerative pathology are associated with reduced operative morbidity, shortened length of hospital stay, and reduced postoperative pain and narcotics utilization. Recent studies with long-term clinical follow-up have demonstrated equivalence in clinical outcomes between open and MIS surgical procedures. Radiographically, MIS procedures provide adequate postoperative correction of coronal alignment. Correction of sagittal alignment, however, is more variable based on current reports.

Summary

MIS techniques are both safe and effective in the treatment of lumbar degenerative pathologies. While some studies have reported on long-term outcomes and costs associated with MIS procedures, more investigation into these topics is still necessary. Additionally, further work is required to analyze the training requirements and learning curves of MIS procedures to better promote adoption amongst surgeons.

     

Minimalinvasive Schmerztherapie rund um die Wirbelsäule

Background

Spinal pain is common and often difficult to treat. In addition to the individual’s impairment, the economic damage is also enormous.

Objective

The present work aims to provide an overview of therapeutic procedures commonly used to treat spinal pain today. These methods are employed primarily for therapy-resistant pain without an existing surgical indication.

Materials and methods

The existing literature was reviewed using PubMed, Google Scholar, and orthopedic textbooks. Further references to older literature were investigated using the Google search function and the Central Library of the Medical University of Vienna.

Results

In addition to X?ray-targeted infiltration, neuroablative and neuromodulatory procedures as well as adhesiolysis catheters are available. They provide consistently good results if correctly indicated.

Discussion

Although in many patients, given the complexity of the pain, complete freedom from symptoms is hardly realistic, the constantly evolving minimally invasive procedures enable a clinically relevant pain reduction to be achieved. Due to the low tissue traumatization there is hardly any scar formation, and the risks of the interventions are low if correctly performed.

     

Olanzapine vs haloperidol: treating delirium in a critical care setting

Objective

To compare the safety and estimate the response profile of olanzapine, a second-generation antipsychotic, to haloperidol in the treatment of delirium in the critical care setting.

Design

Prospective randomized trial

Setting

Tertiary care university affiliated critical care unit.

Patients

All admissions to a medical and surgical intensive care unit with a diagnosis of delirium.

Interventions

Patients were randomized to receive either enteral olanzapine or haloperidol.

Measurements

Patient’s delirium severity and benzodiazepine use were monitored over 5 days after the diagnosis of delirium.

Main results

Delirium Index decreased over time in both groups, as did the administered dose of benzodiazepines. Clinical improvement was similar in both treatment arms. No side effects were noted in the olanzapine group, whereas the use of haloperidol was associated with extrapyramidal side effects.

Conclusions

Olanzapine is a safe alternative to haloperidol in delirious critical care patients, and may be of particular interest in patients in whom haloperidol is contraindicated.

     

Surgical process analysis identifies lack of connectivity between sequential fluoroscopic 2D alignment as a critical impediment in femoral intramedullary nailing

Purpose

Identifying key steps and barriers within complex and simple surgical procedures can be accomplished in a structured and rigorous manner using surgical process modeling. For lower extremity long bone fracture stabilization, the current standard of care is closed intramedullary (IM) nailing, which, despite its widespread use, is associated with challenges that greatly impact operative time and lead to the frustration of medical staff. The aim of this study was to identify challenging surgical steps in IM nailing and understand their underlying causation.

Methods

Eight semi-structured interviews with staff orthopedic surgeons and eight detailed surgical observations were conducted to understand the surgical steps, challenges and adapted techniques used in IM nailing. Hierarchical decomposition was then utilized to structure the IM nailing surgical procedure into phases, steps and activities.

Results

In the developed IM nailing surgical process model, the most challenging steps were identified as fracture reduction (75 %) and entry point selection (25 %), both of which were associated with high levels of frustration in the observed surgeries. Both of these steps utilize 2D fluoroscopic imaging to guide 3D alignment. Challenges arise when the alignment in one plane is lost while adjusting the alignment in the perpendicular plane. This leads to unpredictable repetition of activities which can be time-consuming and frustrating.

Conclusion

Identifying the causation of surgical challenges in IM nailing through surgical process modeling forms a knowledge base that can be used to guide future improvements to techniques and surgical instrumentation.

     

Natürlicher Verlauf bei Hüftdysplasie und Operationsergebnisse

Background

The prevalence of hip dysplasia in epidemiological studies ranges from 1–20%. The associated deformity is a risk factor for secondary osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip.

Objective

What is the natural course of hip dysplasia and is it influenced by cofactors? How successful are corrective surgical procedures?

Material and methods

Analysis of published investigations up to 2018 which provide data about the natural course of hip dysplasia and the results of the most important surgical treatment procedures.

Results

The vast majority of published studies confirm a correlation between hip dysplasia and OA. The risk of OA increases with reduced acetabular coverage and severity of instability (subluxation). Long-term survival and functional results after pelvic osteotomies are meanwhile very good, if the procedure is performed in young or middle-aged patients with good congruency of the joints and no relevant OA. Additional deformities (e.?g. cam deformity or femoral torsional malalignment) should be simultaneously addressed and the acetabular fragment needs optimal positioning. Only a few studies with small patient cohorts and short observation times are currently available on the isolated arthroscopic treatment of borderline dysplasia.

Discussion

The importance of hip dysplasia as an established risk factor for secondary OA and the good results of reorientation pelvic osteotomies justify surgical correction when considering the identified indication criteria. Due to a low but relevant potential for complications, surgery should currently not be recommended for asymptomatic patients in adulthood. Potentially relevant cofactors are important for estimation of the natural course as well as the indications for surgical correction.

     

A methodological,task-based approach to Procedure-Specific Simulations training

Purpose

Procedure-Specific Simulations (PSS) are 3D realistic simulations that provide a platform to practice complete surgical procedures in a virtual-reality environment. While PSS have the potential to improve surgeons’ proficiency, there are no existing standards or guidelines for PSS development in a structured manner.

Method

We employ a unique platform inspired by game design to develop virtual reality simulations in three dimensions of urethrovesical anastomosis during radical prostatectomy. 3D visualization is supported by a stereo vision, providing a fully realistic view of the simulation. The software can be executed for any robotic surgery platform. Specifically, we tested the simulation under windows environment on the RobotiX Mentor.

Result

Using urethrovesical anastomosis during radical prostatectomy simulation as a representative example, we present a task-based methodological approach to PSS training. The methodology provides tasks in increasing levels of difficulty from a novice level of basic anatomy identification, to an expert level that permits testing new surgical approaches.

Conclusion

The modular methodology presented here can be easily extended to support more complex tasks. We foresee this methodology as a tool used to integrate PSS as a complementary training process for surgical procedures.

     

Sekundäre Steife der Schulter

Background

In addition to idiopathic shoulder stiffness, secondary shoulder stiffness in particular is often associated with extra-articular subacromial adhesions between the rotator cuff and the surrounding anatomical structures.

Objective

The aim of this article is to present clinical results and complications as well as the surgical technique of extra-articular release in the context of secondary shoulder stiffness.

Material and Methods

Selective review of the literature and presentation of own clinical experience.

Results

Intra-articular and extra-articular release are related to a high patient satisfaction and an improved range of motion. Exact knowledge of the extra-articular anatomy is necessary to prevent iatrogenic lesions of vessels, nerves and the rotator cuff. Compared to patients with a primary stiff shoulder, patients suffering from posttraumatic stiff shoulder benefit more from arthroscopic interventions with intracapsular and extracapsular release.

Conclusion

Restrictions in range of motion of the shoulder can be related to extra-articular adhesions. These adhesions need to be specifically addressed during arthroscopic treatment of stiff shoulders.

     

Pulmonary nodule classification with deep residual networks

Purpose 

Lung cancer has the highest death rate among all cancers in the USA. In this work we focus on improving the ability of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems to predict the malignancy of nodules from cropped CT images of lung nodules.

Methods

We evaluate the effectiveness of very deep convolutional neural networks at the task of expert-level lung nodule malignancy classification. Using the state-of-the-art ResNet architecture as our basis, we explore the effect of curriculum learning, transfer learning, and varying network depth on the accuracy of malignancy classification.

Results

Due to a lack of public datasets with standardized problem definitions and train/test splits, studies in this area tend to not compare directly against other existing work. This makes it hard to know the relative improvement in the new solution. In contrast, we directly compare our system against two state-of-the-art deep learning systems for nodule classification on the LIDC/IDRI dataset using the same experimental setup and data set. The results show that our system achieves the highest performance in terms of all metrics measured including sensitivity, specificity, precision, AUROC, and accuracy.

Conclusions

The proposed method of combining deep residual learning, curriculum learning, and transfer learning translates to high nodule classification accuracy. This reveals a promising new direction for effective pulmonary nodule CAD systems that mirrors the success of recent deep learning advances in other image-based application domains.

     

Assessing utility and completeness of information transmission during emergency department transfers

Background

The transfer of patients from community emergency departments to tertiary care centers is a daily occurrence in the practice of emergency medicine, but the completeness of medical data in the transfer documentation is a relatively unstudied area. The goal of this study was to evaluate the completeness of information transmitted in the transfer documentation between transferring and accepting institutions and its perceived value at the receiving tertiary center on medical management.

Methods

Prospective, observational, and convenience sample survey study at a tertiary referral center in Boston, MA.

Results

A total of 100 surveys were completed during the 2-month study period. The presence of the radiology report and the provider note was most important in physician assessment of utility of the transfer packet for subsequent care of patients, yet these were the most commonly missing items (31.1% and 21% respectively). Other common missing data were medication administration records, nursing notes, and laboratory results.

Conclusions

Medical data is absent in 15–31% of patients transferred from a community ED to a tertiary center. Provider notes and radiology reports were assessed as having the most utility to the receiving physicians.

     

Création d’un programme d’éducation thérapeutique en douleur chronique (PETDC) — Expérience Canadienne

Aims

Create an educational program in chronic pain (EPCP).

Material and methods

We used a four-step process to create the EPCP tailored to patient’s needs.

Results

Five groups of patients can benefit from the program annually. Based on their own assessment, patients stated that their knowledge of chronic pain improved between 2.8 to 24%. The satisfaction with the EPCP was 8.67/10.

Conclusion

Our EPCP helps patients gain and maintain the skills they need to best manage their lives with a chronic pain.

     

Management of Pediatric Ankle Fractures

Purpose of Review

Summarize classic and recent information regarding the unique subset of ankle fractures in children with open growth plates and share the authors’ decision-making and surgical techniques.

Recent Findings

Recent research on pediatric ankle fractures has centered on the accurate prediction and prevention of growth arrest following fractures of the distal tibia. Another source of discussion is the necessity and benefit of CT scanning in classification and treatment approach.

Summary

Pediatric ankle fractures continue to pose clinical challenges for orthopedic surgeons. While open anatomic reduction and internal fixation continue to produce good outcomes for intra-articular fractures, outcomes of physeal injuries are more difficult to predict. More studies are needed to determine which patients may benefit more from surgical treatment of physeal injuries.

     

Surgical robotics beyond enhanced dexterity instrumentation: a survey of machine learning techniques and their role in intelligent and autonomous surgical actions

Purpose

Advances in technology and computing play an increasingly important role in the evolution of modern surgical techniques and paradigms. This article reviews the current role of machine learning (ML) techniques in the context of surgery with a focus on surgical robotics (SR). Also, we provide a perspective on the future possibilities for enhancing the effectiveness of procedures by integrating ML in the operating room.

Methods

The review is focused on ML techniques directly applied to surgery, surgical robotics, surgical training and assessment. The widespread use of ML methods in diagnosis and medical image computing is beyond the scope of the review. Searches were performed on PubMed and IEEE Explore using combinations of keywords: ML, surgery, robotics, surgical and medical robotics, skill learning, skill analysis and learning to perceive.

Results

Studies making use of ML methods in the context of surgery are increasingly being reported. In particular, there is an increasing interest in using ML for developing tools to understand and model surgical skill and competence or to extract surgical workflow. Many researchers begin to integrate this understanding into the control of recent surgical robots and devices.

Conclusion

ML is an expanding field. It is popular as it allows efficient processing of vast amounts of data for interpreting and real-time decision making. Already widely used in imaging and diagnosis, it is believed that ML will also play an important role in surgery and interventional treatments. In particular, ML could become a game changer into the conception of cognitive surgical robots. Such robots endowed with cognitive skills would assist the surgical team also on a cognitive level, such as possibly lowering the mental load of the team. For example, ML could help extracting surgical skill, learned through demonstration by human experts, and could transfer this to robotic skills. Such intelligent surgical assistance would significantly surpass the state of the art in surgical robotics. Current devices possess no intelligence whatsoever and are merely advanced and expensive instruments.

     

The Role of Tendon Transfers for Irreparable Rotator Cuff Tears

Purpose of Review

This review aims to describe the tendon transfer options for treating irreparable rotator cuff tears (RCTs). Options for transfer include latissimus dorsi and lower trapezius transfers for posterior-superior RCTs and pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi transfer for anterior-superior RCTs.

Recent Findings

While the latissimus dorsi tendon transfer has historically been performed for posterosuperior RCTs, the lower trapezius transfer is a more anatomic option and has demonstrated promising results in recent studies. Similarly, the pectoralis major transfer has historically been the tendon transfer of choice for anterosuperior RCTs. However, the latissimus dorsi tendon transfer has recently been shown to be a safe and anatomic tendon transfer for subscapularis insufficiency.

Summary

The treatment of irreparable RCTs involves complex decision making. Tendon transfer procedures can restore the glenohumeral joint force couples, allowing restoration of near-normal shoulder kinematics. Benefits include reliable pain relief, increased function, and increased strength. Proper selection of donor tendon is crucial, and the principles of tendon transfer procedures must be adhered to for maximal benefit.

     

Predicting Risk of Recurrent Patellar Dislocation

Purpose of Review

Lateral patellar dislocation (LPD) is one of the most common injuries of the knee, especially in a young patient. It is multifactorial with several underlying risk factors. The purpose of this review is to present the most recent data concerning risk factors and their predictive value to estimate recurrent LPD risk.

Recent Findings

Several demographic risk factors (age, skeletal immaturity, sex, bilaterality), mechanism of injury, and anatomic risk factors (trochlear dysplasia, patella alta, excessive tibial tubercle lateralization, increased patellar tilt) have been recognized. The combination of different risk factors, their relative contribution to instability, weightage of each factor, and multivariate analysis have led to the development of a prediction model and instability scoring system.

Summary

If recurrent instability and poor outcomes could be predicted based on these prediction tools, then alternative treatment or early surgical intervention after first-time LPD could be considered. This information can also be used to predict contralateral LPD and failure of surgical treatment. Current prediction tools are mainly based on retrospective studies. In the future, prospective validation of these prognostic factors would be beneficial.

     

Bridging the gap between formal and experience-based knowledge for context-aware laparoscopy

Purpose

Computer assistance is increasingly common in surgery. However, the amount of information is bound to overload processing abilities of surgeons. We propose methods to recognize the current phase of a surgery for context-aware information filtering. The purpose is to select the most suitable subset of information for surgical situations which require special assistance.

Methods

We combine formal knowledge, represented by an ontology, and experience-based knowledge, represented by training samples, to recognize phases. For this purpose, we have developed two different methods. Firstly, we use formal knowledge about possible phase transitions to create a composition of random forests. Secondly, we propose a method based on cultural optimization to infer formal rules from experience to recognize phases.

Results

The proposed methods are compared with a purely formal knowledge-based approach using rules and a purely experience-based one using regular random forests. The comparative evaluation on laparoscopic pancreas resections and adrenalectomies employs a consistent set of quality criteria on clean and noisy input. The rule-based approaches proved best with noisefree data. The random forest-based ones were more robust in the presence of noise.

Conclusion

Formal and experience-based knowledge can be successfully combined for robust phase recognition.

     

Social media: physicians-to-physicians education and communication

Purpose of review

Physician to physician communication is essential for the transfer of ideas, surgical experience, and education. Social networks and online video educational contents have grown exponentially in recent years changing the interaction among physicians.

Recent findings

Social media platforms can improve physician-to-physician communication mostly through video education and social networking. There are several online video platforms for orthopedic surgery with educational content on diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, and surgical technique. Social networking instead is mostly centered on sharing of data, discussion of confidential topics, and job seeking. Quality of educational contents and data confidentiality represent the major drawbacks of these platforms.

Summary

Orthopedic surgeons must be aware that the quality of the videos should be better controlled and regulated to avoid inaccurate information that may have a significant impact especially on trainees that are more prone to use this type of resources. Sharing of data and discussion of confidential topics should be extremely secure according the HIPAA regulations in order to protect patients’ confidentiality.