Ground Truth Factory: A Collaborative Platform to Develop AI- Enabled Surgical Safety Tools
Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise and making its way into several industries. Healthcare is not excluded from that list.
Introducing AI into the operating room can save lives, increase safety, and enhance patient outcomes.
And the creation of intelligent , AI-enabled surgical tools combines the expertise of skilled surgeons with the precision of advanced technology.
But it’s not a simple task to integrate AI into surgery. Medical and AI professionals face many hurdles in gathering all the information needed to build these tools.
That’s why RediMinds created a platform called Ground Truth Factory (GTF) to facilitate data sharing and collaboration between the two professional groups, solving issues faced when developing AI surgical tools.
This article will discuss the details of GTF, how it’s solving major issues, and the impact that it has on the medical field.
Obstacles to Collaboration
Before going into what GTF is and how it works, it’s important to understand the exact challenges that need to be overcome.
When creating AI surgical tools, collaboration is essential. But there are two issues that come with collaborating for research:
1. Lack of Data
Many AI companies do not have access to the data or medical knowledge needed to analyze surgical pictures or identify items of interest such as tumors, blood vessels, and organs – which are both essential to train the AI model.
2. Lack of Time
Many healthcare facilities have data and access to medical knowledge, but not the time nor the ability to actually create the AI models.
The Main Challenge
The gap in skills and knowledge between the two main players: AI companies and medical professionals.
Despite the clear need for collaboration between these two groups, barriers to data sharing, data ownership questions, and annotation tools make collaboration difficult.
So What is Ground Truth Factory?
Purpose-built by RediMinds, the Ground Truth Factory platform aims to bridge the gap between medical and AI professionals and provide a secure platform for the development of AI enabled surgical tools.
This platform allows users to upload data, annotate it, manage it, and construct models. It is intended to provide secure and efficient cooperation while shortening the time required for annotation.
Here are some ways that GTF tackles the usual collaborative issues:
GTF is HIPAA Compliant
There is a process in place to ensure that the data uploaded to the platform does not reveal private information. Also, data storage, access, and processing services are HIPPA compliant.
GTF is Secure
The entire platform is firewall protected, ensuring that data is safe from cyber-attacks. Furthermore, data can be stored in the country that it was created, making it easier to follow data localization laws.
GTF Gives Data Owners Control and Keeps Them Informed
When data is uploaded, the owner of the data can choose how it will be used and can assign annotation jobs to experts of their choosing who participate on the platform.
GTF Saves Time
To protect the valuable time of the surgeons who annotate the images, an AI assistive tool can filter out images with specific anatomical objects such as a spleen, renal arteries, and renal veins.
The Future of AI Surgical Tools with Ground Truth Factory
With the collaborative environment, thousands of experts can work together in the creation of AI surgical tools as GTF has the potential to handle terabytes of data and thousands of images.
The platform enables AI developers to create models that can identify thousands of anatomical objects from hundreds of different surgeries. And as the number of annotators, researchers, and the amount of data processed on the GTF platform continues to grow, the system will be able to handle the increased workload with ease.
Ground Truth Factory connects and combines the skill sets of artificial intelligence and medical research professionals. The information gathered can be used to develop, test, and deploy intelligent surgical tools, such as robotics.
By supporting these collaborative efforts, GTF has the potential to fuel the next generation of artificial intelligence surgical tools – having a significant impact by helping individuals to work together for the greater good.
The full benefits of healthcare providers taking on digital transformations and using AI to create the next generations of surgical tools are yet to be discovered.
AI is certainly helping us take massive strides in healthcare – but it isn’t the only industry seeing exponential change. Check out our article on how AI can make anyone a pro dancer.