By Mr. Chu Canh Chieu, FPT Software Vice President and Director of Global Healthcare Centre, FPT Corporation
As technology advances, the healthcare industry is being transformed by innovation, particularly in surgery. This is driven by the convergence of three elements: artificial intelligence (AI), next-generation connectivity, and high-precision robotic systems. Future surgery will not remain confined to the operating room, but evolve to remote situations as connected data, intelligence, and infrastructure enable safer, more precise, and more scalable care.
This new tech era in surgical capability will depend entirely on how effectively healthcare organisations embed robotics within connected architectures. How well these technologies are orchestrated by healthcare teams into cohesive, scalable systems will in due course strengthen decision-making, accelerate learning and allow access to the right expertise, ultimately generating competitive advantage.
The power of three technologies to transform modern surgical innovation
The next generation of surgical innovation will be determined by how the following advanced technologies integrate and scale together:
- Advanced precision mechanics are recognised as the physical enabler for the digital and robotic transformations in today’s surgery. With high-performance components, robotic systems achieve sub-millimetre positioning accuracy and high rigidity, which are essential for navigating confined anatomical spaces. This next level precision enables motion scaling, translating large hand movements into microscopic actions, and a mechanical filtration of physiological tremors. When used in combination with multi-jointed instruments that exceed the range of motion of the human wrist, procedures become minimally invasive, repeatable, which promotes faster patient recovery and reduced tissue trauma.
- Next-generation connectivity, most notably 6G-enabled Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), is enabling near real-time responsiveness. This is the key catalyst for making remote surgical intervention possible. There are emerging capabilities such as haptic feedback that further extend this potential, allowing surgeons to perceive tissue resistance across distance with greater precision.
- AI is a critical component, moving from assistive support to real-time driving intelligence. In practical terms, computer vision is already being applied to recognise surgical instruments and detect foreign objects within the operating field, enabling real-time alerts that strengthen safety monitoring. These systems also stabilize motion and support high-precision tasks, improving consistency in complex procedures and extending surgical capability into microscale interventions. Outside of the operating field, AI-driven pattern recognition enables earlier identification of anatomical structures and procedural risks from medical imaging, video, and kinematic data. In fact, FPT’s expertise is advancing capabilities in AI-powered imaging, interoperability, and intelligent health platforms within regulated environments.
Other technologies are progressing pre-operative planning, such as Digital Twin Assisted Surgery (DTAS), which enables clinicians to simulate procedures on patient-specific 3D models, improving risk assessment and surgical preparedness. Another, Extended Reality (XR), including AR and VR, is transforming surgical training through immersive, scalable, and risk-free environments. Through the Intelligent Internet of Medical Things (IIoMT), where devices continuously exchange data, these technologies are critically situated to support coordinated, real-time decision-making across the surgical ecosystem.
Surgical video is becoming a strategic data asset
Within modern surgical environments, video is becoming the most critical data layer. High-definition, stereoscopic imaging is particularly beneficial in complex specialties such as paediatric, cardiac, and neurosurgery. It captures clinical detail that cannot be replicated through kinematic data alone, including subtle indicators such as tissue tension or risk of tearing.
When it is structured and integrated, surgical video enables real-time intraoperative awareness, and immediate review of critical moments without interrupting procedures. It also provides a continuous audit trail for clinical governance and safety monitoring. These datasets are also essential for training AI models through multimodal learning, where video-enhanced models consistently outperform movement-only approaches in evaluating surgical technique and improving robotic precision.
Outside of the operating room, video libraries that are indexed and searchable can cut training time significantly, enabling trainees to benchmark performance against expert procedures while supporting global knowledge sharing. At scale, this data is invaluable for AI to assess key surgical factors such as instrument trajectories, operative timing, and patient responses to continuously improve outcomes.
To support this evolution of surgical innovation, FPT has now developed integrated data platforms that capture, structure, and govern surgical data in compliance with international standards such as HITRUST r2, HIPAA, ISO 13485, and FDA design controls, while incorporating privacy-preserving approaches such as federated learning to support secure, scalable AI development.
Establishing foundations to operationalise surgical intelligence at scale.
To illustrate this approach, a major university hospital in Sweden has deployed a next-generation surgical video platform that addresses limitations in fragmented recording systems. The platform consolidates seven synchronised video sources into a unified interface, supporting approximately 140 procedures per year and generating around 500 hours of surgical footage annually.
The benefits are significant. By enabling real-time playback and intelligent video tagging, it reduces the time required to locate specific surgical milestones from approximately 30 minutes to under 10 seconds, significantly improving both clinical review and training efficiency.
Consolidating seven synchronised video sources into a unified interface, the platform generates around 500 hours of surgical footage annually, supporting approximately 140 procedures per year. By enabling real-time playback and intelligent video tagging, it reduces the time required to locate specific surgical milestones from approximately 30 minutes to under 10 seconds, significantly improving both clinical review and training efficiency.
Shaping the future of surgical intelligence, the principal drivers for connected surgical care.
The future of robotic surgery will be shaped not only by advances in mechanical technologies, but also by how effectively healthcare systems bring together data, intelligence, connectivity, and clinical workflows within a resilient surgical ecosystem. Innovation will increasingly be defined by the strength of the environment around the platform, including the systems, standards, and governance that allow new capabilities to be adopted safely and consistently.
As the sector moves towards more connected and data-driven models, FPT has been strengthening the critical foundations to support that transition. By making continued investment across AI, video and data platforms, computer vision technologies, data infrastructure, digital twin capabilities, interoperability, and delivery in regulated healthcare environments, this supports more connected, adaptive, and scalable models of surgical care.
