Moorfields Eye Hospital and Digital Surgery have been awarded a grant from Innovate UK to assess artificial intelligence (AI) cataract surgery technology.
The technology has been developed by Digital Surgery, the company founded by surgeons Dr. Jean Nehme and Dr. Andre Chow to help train surgeons, improve theatre flow, develop surgical teams and help analyse and reduce risks of cataract surgery.
Led by George Saleh, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields, the AI cataract surgery platform will enable procedure tracking during surgery that can be displayed in real-time on screens in theatres along with post-operative analytics that will support surgical teams to adapt the way they undertake surgery. This is a first for cataract surgery.
The platform will also provide an immersive training experience for surgeons to help them to hone their skills and practise surgical techniques in a safe environment.
Digital Surgery and Moorfields have been awarded a total project grant of £1 million from Innovate UK’s Digital Health Technology Catalyst round 4, the trust will receive £200,000 to support the clinical translation of the project.
The technology will be introduced at Moorfields City Road from January 2020 and will be rolled out to networked sites, where the majority of cataract surgeries are performed.
George Saleh, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields, said “I’m thrilled that the trust has been successful in being awarded this grant. This will help us to build on our current work to explore how AI can be used to improve the way we deliver care to our patients.”
“The technology is a really powerful tool and will be able to gather a large amount of surgical data and puts us at the forefront of delivering the best and safest cataract surgery.”
“I’m particularly keen to see this used across our UK network so that all surgical colleagues can experience the benefits of the technology.”
