Application of digital medical technology in hepatopancreatobiliary surgery:20 years' retrospective review and prospect

Abstract

Digital medicine has played a vital role in promoting the development of hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery of China.The multidisciplinary integration of medical science and technology innovates research and development,and practice in clinical diagnosis and treatment.Digital medicine has enabled within 20 years,development from digital virtual human,three-dimensional visualization,molecular fluorescence imaging to artificial intelligence.There are four important stages of the development in China's digital medical technology:digital medicine 1.0 (2002 to 2004,digital virtual human) on digital human anatomy, digital medicine 2.0(2004 to 2014,three-dimensional(3D) visualization and 3D printing) on 3D diagnosis and treatment of complex hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases, digital medicine 3.0(2014 to 2019,molecular fluorescence imaging) on precision navigation of tumor boundaries and micro tumors using indocyanine green molecular imaging, and digital medicine 4.0(2019 to present,digital artificial intelligence) on augmented reality-based and mixed reality-based 3D abdominal navigation hepatectomy and photoacoustic imaging of tumors.Over the past 20 years' course of development,Chinese researchers have made countless and remarkable achievements in digital medicine through continuous efforts and innovation. In the future,cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence on deep machine learning,multi-mode image real-time fusion navigation surgery,photoacoustic imaging and targeted molecular probe technology will promote the development of digital medicine 4.0 in a coordinated manner,leading to the advent of digital medicine 5.0.