New Medical Platform Simplifies Surgeons' Work at Ichilov

The Tel Aviv Sourasky Center (Ichilov Hospital), the largest emergency care facility in Israel, announced this month the implementation of a new medical platform that utilizes artificial intelligence and computer vision technologies to scan real surgical procedures. This allows doctors to obtain information on advanced surgical techniques and reduces the number of medical errors.

The platform, developed by Theator, an American-Israeli startup founded by Dr. Tamir Wolf and Dotan Asselman, provides video analytics that allow surgeons to evaluate a recently completed multi-hour procedure in just a few minutes. The platform extracts and annotates each key moment of the procedure to enable surgeons to review their work from all angles – from preoperative preparation to postoperative analysis.

Opinions on the Implementation of the Platform

“Hospitals and medical schools around the world recognize the importance of adapting to a new surgical training regime, and Ichilov is a pioneer in this endeavor,” said Dr. Tamir Wolf, the current CEO of the company, in a statement about the partnership between Theator and Tel Aviv Hospital. This is the first instance of an Israeli hospital installing a surgical intelligence platform in its operating room.

“We are very pleased to collaborate with Ichilov. From the moment we first introduced Theator to the hospital's CEO, Dr. Ronny Gamzu, our interaction with their surgical leadership and the team at the TLVMC I-Medata Artificial Intelligence Center has been phenomenal,” said Dr. Wolf Noukamels. “Their main priority is improving patient care and providing their clients with excellent services.” (Dr. Gamzu is currently the coordinator of Israel's national strategy for combating coronavirus.)

“As part of our commitment to using innovative technologies, it is a great honor for us to be the first hospital in Israel to implement Theator's Surgical Intelligence platform,” said Dr. Guy Lahat, head of the surgical department at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. “Integrating the latest proven technologies is a central element of our effort to provide advanced medical care and patient-centered treatment.”

The integration of Theator's surgical intelligence platform into the operating rooms of Ichilov will not only allow for the recording and analysis of each procedure performed but will also support the upcoming transition from a time-based training model to a competency-based model for surgical residents.

The Theator technology, running on Amazon Web Services (AWS), will provide surgeons and surgical residents in the general surgery departments of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center with the tools necessary to continuously refine their skills, raising standards and productivity and making routine video recording and analysis the new standard of medical care in surgery.

While Ichilov is the first Israeli hospital to implement the platform in its operating rooms, it is not the first hospital in the world. According to Theator, the platform is also active in hospitals, medical schools, and research centers in North America, including McGill University, a public research university in Montreal.

“There are so few opportunities to access the surgeries themselves to learn and improve. Theator gives us that opportunity,” said Dr. Liana Feldman, chair of the surgery department at McGill University's medical faculty and chief surgeon at McGill University Health Centre.

In April 2019, Theator also announced the launch of its first product, the Minutes platform, at the annual meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) in Baltimore, Maryland. Minutes is a summary video and analytics tool offering expertly edited versions of surgical procedures. They are provided to surgeons to help them prepare and summarize quickly and effectively, using algorithmic ideas based on artificial intelligence.

Improving Surgical Efficiency During COVID-19

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, many hospitals around the world made the difficult decision to suspend elective surgeries. This subsequently led to a significant backlog: 2.4 million surgeries were canceled worldwide each week.

When surgeries resume in hospitals, surgeons will be under immense pressure to perform more procedures to make up for the backlog – surgical trainees (i.e., residents), who make up a significant portion of the surgical staff, are already experiencing adverse effects.

“The intuitive and easy-to-use visual platform Theator helps surgeons continuously hone their skills, regardless of how much time they spend with their mentors, allowing them to review multi-hour surgical videos in just minutes,” explains Dr. Wolf.

The Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center treats 400,000 inpatients and serves 1.8 million people annually. The academic medical center is considered one of the most progressive treatment and research institutions with a full range of services in Israel, serving a population of one million people.