A new artificial intelligence tool that colour-codes different parts of the body during live operations has been used by surgeons in the United Kingdom for the first time. The technology is designed to give surgeons a clearer, real-time view of what they are working on, highlighting delicate structures on a screen so that they can be protected or carefully removed, in what doctors hope will become a significant step forward for safety in the operating theatre.
The system, known as Eureka, works alongside robotic or keyhole, laparoscopic procedures. As the operation is under way, it projects real-time, colour-coded highlights onto a screen beside the surgeon, helping them to identify specific tissues. The aim is to make it easier to see and protect the parts of the body that matter most, reducing the risk of accidental damage during delicate and complex surgery.
In practice, the tool overlays colours onto the live surgical image, with structures such as nerves appearing in green and connective tissue picked out in turquoise. By making these features stand out clearly, the system is meant to improve both precision and safety, giving the surgeon a better chance of carrying out the operation successfully and avoiding harm to surrounding tissue that can be hard to distinguish by eye.
The operation marked not only the first time the technology had been used in the United Kingdom, but also the first time it had been used during surgery anywhere outside Japan, the country where it was originally developed. That makes the procedure something of a landmark for the spread of the technology beyond its home, and a notable moment for the use of artificial intelligence in British operating theatres.
The technology was created by Japanese surgeons, who trained the artificial intelligence using thousands of recordings of real surgical procedures. By learning from that vast library of operations, the system is able to recognise and label anatomical structures as it watches a live operation, effectively turning years of accumulated surgical experience into a guide that can be applied in real time during a procedure.
The first UK operation took place at St Mark's, the National Bowel Hospital, where medics used the tool while operating on a patient in her 60s. The patient underwent a bowel resection at the hospital, which is part of the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. The procedure was carried out successfully, offering an early demonstration of how the system could be used in routine practice.
Consultant surgeon Mr Kapil Sahnan described the tool as an extra helping arm, one that can look at a live surgery and start telling the surgeon which are the hidden structures that they perhaps cannot see. The advance has been likened to the leap from navigating with a paper street map to using satellite navigation, and is seen as the latest example of artificial intelligence being woven into everyday medical practice.