Artificial Intelligence in Orthopedic Surgery: Current Applications, Challenges, and Future Directions.

Journal: MedComm
Published Date:

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) drives transformative changes in orthopedic surgery, steering it toward precision and personalization through intelligent applications in preoperative planning, intraoperative assistance, and postoperative rehabilitation/monitoring. Breakthroughs in deep learning, robotics, and multimodal data fusion have enabled AI to demonstrate significant advantages. Nonetheless, current applications face challenges such as limited real-time decision autonomy, fragmented medical data silos, standardization gaps restricting model generalization, and ethical/regulatory frameworks lagging behind technological advancements. Therefore, a critical analysis of the current status of AI and the acceleration of its clinical translation is urgently required. This study systematically reviews the core advancements, challenges, and future directions of AI in orthopedic surgery from technical, clinical, and ethical perspectives. It elaborates on the "perceptual-decisional-executional" intelligent closed loop formed by algorithmic innovation and hardware upgrades, summarizes AI applications across surgical continuum, analyzes ethical and regulatory challenges, and explores emerging trajectories. This review integrates the end-to-end applications of AI in orthopedics, illustrating its evolution. It introduces an "algorithm-hardware-ethics trinity" framework for technical translation, providing methodological guidance for interdisciplinary collaboration. Additionally, it evaluates the combined efficacy of diverse algorithms and devices through practical cases and details of future research frontiers, aiming to inform researchers of current landscapes and guide subsequent investigations.

Authors

  • Fei Han
    Organ Transplantation Research Institution, Division of Kidney Transplantation, Department of Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
  • Xiao Huang
    Department of Anesthesiology, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 8 Workers' Stadium South Road, Beijing 100020, Chaoyang Distinct, China.
  • Xin Wang
    Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science & Technology (Northeast Forestry University), Ministry of Education, Harbin 150040, China.
  • Yong-Feng Chen
    Department of Orthopedics Xijing Hospital Air Force Medical University Xi'an China.
  • Chuang Lu
    Department of Orthopedics The 990th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force Zhumadian China.
  • Shasha Li
  • Lu Lu
    China School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
  • Da-Wei Zhang
    Department of Orthopedics Xijing Hospital Air Force Medical University Xi'an China.

Keywords

No keywords available for this article.