UK-first operation uses AI tool dubbed an ‘extra helping arm’

TechnologyHealth & Fitness
6 Jun 2026 • 8:24 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

UK-first operation uses AI tool dubbed an ‘extra helping arm’

  • A pioneering AI tool named Eureka, which colour-codes body parts during live operations, has been deployed by surgeons for the first time in the UK.
  • Medics at St Mark’s, the National Bowel Hospital, utilised the system during a bowel resection on a patient in her 60s, marking its first use outside Japan.
  • Eureka works alongside robotic or laparoscopic procedures, projecting real-time, colour-coded highlights onto a screen to help identify and protect or dissect specific tissues.
  • Consultant surgeon Mr Kapil Sahnan described the tool as an “extra helping arm, enhancing precision and safety by identifying hidden structures and preventing errors.
  • Developed by Japanese surgeons who trained the AI using thousands of surgical video recordings, there is hope for its wider rollout to make surgery safer for more patients.

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