ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Evidence is accumulating that artificial intelligence and other big data approaches have the potential to transform how surgeons determine the best candidates for certain types of spine surgery. Can they bring precision medicine to challenging conditions like lower back pain and adult spinal deformity?
The October 2021 issue of The Spine Journal is devoted to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), with articles by top surgeons that decipher why AI is attracting so much attention in medicine these days, and how it is beginning to profoundly affect spine surgery. An editorial, “AR and Spine: The Rise of Machines,” couldn’t be more appropriately titled, coming on the heels of the annual meeting in September of the National Association of Spine Specialists (NASS), which was the site of important conversations exploring the topic. (See “At NASS 2021, MIS Spine Pioneer Frank Phillips Talks Augmented Reality, Implants and Robotics,” Medtech Strategist, October 2021.) In the context of the broader healthcare environment, where data science innovation is impacting every facet of medicine and upending long-standing unmet clinical needs with fresh approaches, AI-driven, big data solutions to complicated areas of medicine like spine surgery have enduring resonance.
