The Application of Artificial Intelligence in Spine Surgery: A Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: A comprehensive review on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) within spine surgery as a specialty remains lacking.

METHODS: This scoping review was conducted upon PubMed and EMBASE databases according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Our analysis focused on publications from January 1, 2020, to March 31, 2024, with a specific focus on AI in the field of spine surgery. Review articles and articles predominantly concerning secondary validation of algorithms, medical physics, electronic devices, biomechanics, preclinical, and with a lack of clinical emphasis were excluded.

RESULTS: One hundred five studies were included after our inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied. Most studies (n = 100) were conducted through supervised learning upon prelabeled data sets. Overall, 38 studies used conventional machine learning methods upon predefined features, whereas 67 used deep learning methods, predominantly for medical image analyses. Only 25.7% of studies (27/105) collected data from more than 1,000 patients for model development and validation. Data originated from only a single center in 72 studies. The most common application was prognostication (38/105), followed by diagnosis (35/105), medical image processing (29/105), and surgical assistance (3/105).

CONCLUSION: The application of AI within the domain of spine surgery has significant potential to advance patient-specific diagnosis, management, and surgical execution.