Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42506129›Full record

ArticleJournal of imaging2026

Implementation of Image-Based Artificial Intelligence Is Associated with Increased Case Volume in a High-Acuity, 15-Room Cardiothoracic Operating Suite at a Tertiary Academic Hospital.

Ngoc-Anh A Nguyen, Grace Lee, Sarah Sossong, Jannika V Machnik, Sarah Pletcher, Roberta Schwartz

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of imaging, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Ngoc-Anh A NguyenCenter for Connected Care, Innovation & Implementation-Research, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA.ORCID 0009-0000-9683-6934
Grace LeeCenter for Connected Care, Innovation & Implementation-Research, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA.ORCID 0009-0009-2822-9046
Sarah SossongCenter for Connected Care, Innovation & Implementation-Research, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Jannika V MachnikCenter for Connected Care, Innovation & Implementation-Research, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA.ORCID 0009-0001-5814-3560
Sarah PletcherCenter for Connected Care, Innovation & Implementation-Research, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA.ORCID 0009-0005-4217-0192
Roberta SchwartzHouston Methodist Academic Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3757-8765

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOperating rooms generate substantial visual data that is rarely captured systematically. Image-based AI (IBAI) systems using computer vision offer a new approach to real-time perioperative workflow monitoring, but evidence of their impact on surgical case volume remains limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between deployment of an IBAI system and monthly surgical case volume in a high-acuity cardiothoracic operating suite, using synthetic control with difference-in-differences estimation.

methodsWe deployed an IBAI system with wall-mounted cameras and a YOLO-based (You Only Look Once) object detection model coupled with a transformer-based event detector in a 15-room cardiothoracic suite at Houston Methodist Hospital (HMH), the tertiary academic hospital of Houston Methodist health system. The deployment was conducted under an IRB-determined quality improvement framework with patient consent for ambient video capture, defined retention limits, and restricted access to recordings. Over a 16-month period spanning 6 months pre-deployment and 10 months post-deployment, the system monitored 5417 surgical cases and automatically detected additional perioperative events including patient entry, draping, and room turnover. Using a synthetic control methodology, we compared post-deployment outcomes at the intervention site against a weighted combination drawn from a pool of 11 Houston Methodist sites that did not yet implement IBAI (116,098 cases across the comparison sites; 121,515 cases in the full analytic dataset).

resultsThe synthetic control analysis with difference-in-differences estimation showed a statistically significant increase of approximately 25 cases per month (95% CI 8.3 to 41.0;

conclusionsOur findings suggest that IBAI can meaningfully improve OR efficiency and support data-driven perioperative management. Future work should evaluate whether case volume gains generalize across other surgical specialties, assess changes in operational outcomes such as turnover time and first-case on-time starts, and examine clinicians' perceptions of IBAI.

Indexed as

cardiothoracic surgerycomputer visiondifference-in-differencesimage-based artificial intelligenceoperating room efficiencysurgical case volumesynthetic control

Identifiers

PMID42506129
PMCPMC13412611

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.