The precision revolution: artificial intelligence, robotic surgery, and the future of medicine

Abstract

Medicine is undergoing a deep technological transformation, with surgery on the cusp of this change, as technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), real-time imaging, and robotics converge to transform operative care. These innovations are now progressively being integrated into practice, driving precision surgery closer to reality. We aimed to assess how the convergence of AI, AR, real-time imaging, and robotics is advancing precision surgery and to outline the next wave of operative care. For doing this, we conducted a narrative perspective of publications that address AI-driven decision-making, AR-guided navigation, semi-autonomous robotics, and real-time imaging tailoring in surgical contexts. We observed that AI algorithms are expanding the potential of medicine by analyzing diverse data sets to optimize treatment strategies. AR-based navigation systems overlay digital anatomical information onto the surgical field, improving surgeon awareness and accuracy. Concurrently, AI-powered robotics are beginning to perform some surgical tasks semi-autonomously, potentially shortening procedure times and improving patient outcomes. Over time, the synergy between these disciplines may yield a new era of surgery: One where patient stratification guides operative decisions and where surgeons rely on data-driven systems for intraoperative feedback. This approach reinforces the principles of precision medicine and points toward a future in which surgery evolves hand in hand to improve clinical outcomes and patient safety. The synergy of data-driven surgery and personalized therapeutics brings a new era in precision medicine in which operative decisions may be dynamically tailored to the individual, promising greater safety and better clinical results.

Keywords

artificial intelligence / robotics / precision surgery / augmented reality / real-time imaging

References

[1] Knudsen JE, Ghaffar U, Ma R, Hung AJ. Clinical applications of artificial intelligence in robotic surgery. J Robot Surg. 2024; 18:102.

[2] Laterza V, Marchegiani F, Aisoni F, Ammendola M, Schena CA, Lavazza L, et al. Smart Operating Room in Digestive Surgery: A Narrative Review. Healthcare (Basel). 2024; 12:1530.

[3] Evans W, Meslin EM, Kai J, Qureshi N. Precision Medicine-Are We There Yet? A Narrative Review of Precision Medicine’s Applicability in Primary Care. J Pers Med. 2024; 14:418.

[4] Cheng H, Xu H, Peng B, Huang X, Hu Y, Zheng C, et al. Illuminating the future of precision cancer surgery with fluorescence imaging and artificial intelligence convergence. NPJ Precis Oncol. 2024; 8:196.

[5] Loftus TJ, Altieri MS, Balch JA, Abbott KL, Choi J, Marwaha JS, et al. Artificial Intelligence-enabled Decision Support in Surgery: State-of-the-art and Future Directions. Ann Surg. 2023; 278:51-8.

[6] Wah JNK. The rise of robotics and AI-assisted surgery in modern healthcare. J Robot Surg. 2025; 19:311.

[7] Martin-Gomez A, Li H, Song T, Yang S, Wang G, Ding H, et al. STTAR: Surgical Tool Tracking Using Off-the-Shelf Augmented Reality Head-Mounted Displays. IEEE Trans Vis Comput Graph. 2024; 30:3578-93.

[8] Chopra H, Munjal K, Arora S, Bibi S, Biswas P. Role of augmented reality in surgery: editorial. Int J Surg. 2024; 110:2526-8.

[9] Magalhães R, Oliveira A, Terroso D, Vilaça A, Veloso R, Marques A, et al. Mixed Reality in the Operating Room: A Systematic Review. J Med Syst. 2024; 48:76.

[10] Wendler T, van Leeuwen FWB, Navab N, van Oosterom MN. How molecular imaging will enable robotic precision surgery: The role of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and navigation. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021; 48:4201-24.

[11] Boni L, David G, Mangano A, Dionigi G, Rausei S, Spampatti S, et al. Clinical applications of indocyanine green (ICG) enhanced fluorescence in laparoscopic surgery. Surg Endosc. 2015; 29:2046-55.

[12] Kubben PL, ter Meulen KJ, Schijns OE, ter Laak-Poort MP, van Overbeeke JJ, van Santbrink H. Intraoperative MRI-guided resection of glioblastoma multiforme: a systematic review. Lancet Oncol. 2011; 12:1062-70.

[13] Xiao Q, Monfaredi R, Musa M, Cleary K, Chen Y. MR-Conditional Actuations: A Review. Ann Biomed Eng. 2020; 48:2707-33.

[14] Huang K, Liao J, He J, Lai S, Peng Y, Deng Q, et al. A real-time augmented reality system integrated with artificial intelligence for skin tumor surgery: experimental study and case series. Int J Surg. 2024; 110:3294-306.

[15] Soleymanjahi S, Huebner J, Elmansy L, Rajashekar N, Lüdtke N, Paracha R, et al. Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Colonoscopy for Polyp Detection: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2024; 177:1652-63.

[16] Mozafari JK, Moshtaghioon SA, Mahdavi SM, Ghaznavi A, Behjat M, Yeganeh A. The role of artificial intelligence in preoperative planning for Total Hip Arthroplasty: a systematic review. Front Artif Intell. 2024; 7:1417729.

[17] Chiou SY, Liu LS, Lee CW, Kim DH, Al-Masni MA, Liu HL, et al. Augmented Reality Surgical Navigation System Integrated with Deep Learning. Bioengineering (Basel). 2023; 10:617.

[18] Une N, Kobayashi S, Kitaguchi D, Sunakawa T, Sasaki K, Ogane T, et al. Intraoperative artificial intelligence system identifying liver vessels in laparoscopic liver resection: a retrospective experimental study. Surg Endosc. 2024; 38:1088-95.

[19] Yoon HK, Yang HL, Jung CW, Lee HC. Artificial intelligence in perioperative medicine: a narrative review. Korean J Anesthesiol. 2022; 75:202-15.

[20] DaVinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA) [Internet].SAGES; c2025 [cited 2025 Jun 1]. Available from:https://www.sages.org/publications/tavac/tavac-analysis-davinci-surgical-system

[21] Salkowski M, Checcucci E, Chow AK, Rogers CC, Adbollah F, Liatsikos E, et al. New multiport robotic surgical systems: a comprehensive literature review of clinical outcomes in urology. Ther Adv Urol. 2023; 15:17562872231177781.

[22] Transcontinental breakthrough in thoracic surgery-first teleoperated single-port lobectomy between Suzhou and Bucharest - Business Review [Internet]. Snapwise Inc; c2025 [cited2025 Jun 1]. Available from:https://ground.news/article/transcontinental-breakthrough-in-thoracic-surgery-first-teleoperated-single-port-lobectomy-between-suzhou-and-bucharest-business-review

[23] Gemini Robotics brings AI into the physical world [Internet]. Google DeepMind ; [cited 2025 Jun 1]. Available from:https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/gemini-robotics-brings-ai-into-the-physical-world/

[24] RT-2: Vision-Language-Action Models Transfer Web Knowledge to Robotic Control [Internet]. Google DeepMind; [cited2025 Jun 1]. Available from:https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.15818

[25] AI Is Poised to “Revolutionize” Surgery [Internet].American College of Surgeons; [cited 2025 Jun 1]. Available from:https://www.facs.org/for-medical-professionals/news-publications/news-and-articles/bulletin/2023/june-2023-volume-108-issue-6/ai-is-poised-to-revolutionize-surgery/

[26] Saeidi H, Opfermann JD, Kam M, Wei S, Leonard S, Hsieh MH, et al. Autonomous robotic laparoscopic surgery for intestinal anastomosis. Sci Robot. 2022; 7:eabj2908.

[27] Intuitive Announces FDA Clearance of Fifth-Generation Robotic System, da Vinci 5 [Internet].Intuitive Surgical; [cited 2025 Jun 1]. Available from:https://isrg.intuitive.com/news-releases/news-release-details/intuitive-announces-fda-clearance-fifth-generation-robotic/

[28] Zhang ZS, Wu Y, Zheng B. A Review of Cognitive Support Systems in the Operating Room. Surg Innov. 2024; 31:111-22.

[29] Karakasis P, Antoniadis AP, Theofilis P, Vlachakis PK, Milaras N, Patoulias D, et al. Digital Twin Models in Atrial Fibrillation: Charting the Future of Precision Therapy? J Pers Med. 2025; 15:256.

[30] Dias RD, Conboy HM, Gabany JM, Clarke LA, Osterweil LJ, Avrunin GS, et al. Development of an Interactive Dashboard to Analyze Cognitive Workload of Surgical Teams During Complex Procedural Care. IEEE Int Interdiscip Conf Cogn Methods Situat Aware Decis Support. 2018; 2018:77-82.

[31] Gordon WJ, Ikoma N, Lyu H, Jackson GP, Landman A. Protecting procedural care-cybersecurity considerations for robotic surgery. NPJ Digit Med. 2022; 5:148.

[32] Cybersecurity in Medical Devices: Quality System Considerations and Content of Premarket Submissions [Internet].U. S. FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION; [cited 2025 Jun 1]. Available from:https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/cybersecurity-medical-devices-quality-system-considerations-and-content-premarket-submissions