“There was the Door to which I found no Key …
There was the Veil through which I might not see.
Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee …
There was–and then no more of Thee and Me …”
(Khayyam Neyshapuri, 10th centruy Persian polimath)
Shot with Zenith 122 on Lomography Lomo 400.
(© Hooman Esfandiari 2023).
I am the head of the artificial intelligence team at the Research in Orthopedic Computer Science (ROCS) lab, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich. I am interested in the cross-section between computer vision, computer assisted surgery, artifical intelligence and mixed reality. Through my primary line of research, I focous on developing advanced surgical navigation methods and techniques using novel breakthroughs in machine learning and augmented reality. My vision is to use the said modern technologies to develop low-profile and non-intrusive computer assisted surgery solutions with the hope of increasing their clinical adoption rate. Through my neumerous conversations with various stakeholders in this field, I have heard the following sentence in different variations and tones:
“If an assistive computer technology takes me an additional 20 minutes to setup, I’d rather do it myself than to rely on the … computer”
But to me the message is clear and simple: new technologies should respect the clinical workflow, not the other way around! Our community has been successful in transitioning advanced AI solutions into the MedTech realm specifically for preoperative and postoperative applicaitons; however, dedicated Intraoperative solutions are scarse in today’s climate due to challanges in intraoperative data collection and curation. Through my research efforts, I aim at bridging the said gap and applying the emerging AI models for use in intraoperative conditions.
Through my daily work, I am very fortunate to have constant communication and collaboration with people from a diverse range of backgrounds: computer science, orthopedic surgery, AI and the broader engineering field. In this role, I manage the AI team within the ROCS lab and supervise technical M.Sc. and PhD sudents as well as medical residents who are involved in the experimental aspects of our work.
Through my academic research, I have recently co-founded X23D AG, which is a startup company aiming at providing advanced surgical navigation solutions that can be effortlessly integrated in the existing surgical workflow. We at X23D AG are a growing team of software developers and clinicians, pursuing a commercialization pathway for our reimagined computer assisted surgery prooducts. I am the Chief Executive officer at X23D AG and a member of the board.