Hero Section - Bringing AI into Surgery

Bringing AI into Surgery

Creating an AI proctor that supports surgeons

AI Healthcare UX Research Product Design

The Core Challenge

How do we design AI that supports medical professionals without overstepping boundaries?

The Goal

Design an AI assistant to support surgeons during procedures and provide post-surgical insights—without disrupting clinical judgment or workflow.

“The AI should never take over. It should support me, not make decisions for me that I do not trust”
— Gynecologic Oncology Fellow

Designed with AI (and humans)

ChatGPT
Drafted interview questions and generated interaction ideas
Claude
Summarized insights and refined design concepts
Midjourney
Visualized AR overlay concepts for the operating room
Figma
Prototyped interface flows and visual components
Replit
Explored more advanced, interactive prototypes to simulate logic and behavior
UX Pilot
Used to evaluate usability, clarity, and visual hierarchy of early designs
⚕️
Real surgeon feedback
Grounded interaction timing, trust signals, and suggestion tone in clinical expectations

Research & Strategic Constraints

3
Research
Read 3 research papers about how AI is used in surgery.
3
Expert Interviews
Talked to 3 surgeons about how they want AI to fit into their workflow
100%
Rules & Safety
Reviewed FDA device guidelines and HIPAA rules.

Solution Overview: Two modes of AI assistance

Surgical Vision Modes
Expert Mode
Pro Mode Interface
Designed for expert surgeons, this mode provides minimal but powerful suggestions that improve precision without interrupting workflow.
  • Subtle, context-aware guidance
  • No interruptions—just highlights
  • Post-op learning tools
Surgical Vision Modes
Training Mode
Resident Mode Interface
An intelligent guidance system that provides real-time feedback and educational prompts to help surgical residents build confidence and expertise.
  • AI-powered guidance system
  • Real-time feedback and corrections
  • Progress tracking and analytics

Key Design Features

  1. Surgical Procedure Screen

2. AI Control Panel

Results & Takeaways

Surgeons appreciated the non-intrusive approach

Learned how to balance AI suggestions with human expertise

Gained confidence using AI tools to enhance critical UX decision

Designed with trust, ethics, and usability at the center

If the project continued, we’d track:

  • Surgeon focus (via eye tracking or NASA-TLX)

  • How often AI prompts were used or skipped

  • Accuracy of key surgical steps

  • Speed of critical decisions

    Let me know if you’d like to see more—I’m happy to share!

Credits

Deep thanks to Intuitive Surgical for being my primary source of clinical insight and inspiration throughout this project.

  • Gratitude to Stanford University for providing the ethical foundation and thoughtful frameworks that shaped how I approached AI in high-stakes environments.

    And a heartfelt thank-To the three Surgeons (who will remain anonymous) for their openness, honesty, and generosity in sharing real-world surgical experiences that made this work possible.