Technology

The 2021 C. Walton Lillehei Lecture was presented during The Society of Thoracic Surgeons 57th Annual Meeting by Paul G. Yock, MD, MA, founder and director of the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign in California.

During the lecture, Dr. Yock encourage participants to view innovation as a discipline—one that can be taught, practiced, and recreated. He acknowledged, though, that comprehensive innovation can be difficult in the health care setting because it involves multiple stakeholders. He likened the “user” in this scenario to an “eight-headed monster.”

Cardiothoracic surgeons are studying the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to improve risk prediction in the hopes that patient outcomes also will improve. Arman Kilic, MD, and Ara A. Vaporciyan, MD, along with medical student Brian Ayers, discuss what AI and ML mean, how it can uncover previously unknown relationships in medical data, and how it can be used to assist the surgeon in the operating room.

2020 STS Annual Meeting Lillehei Lecture
Bumper Car Innovation of Heart Pumps and Mechanical Lungs

The STS Lillehei Lecture was established in 2009 through a generous gift from the Lillehei Family Charitable Foundation in honor of Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, a pioneer in open heart surgery utilizing cross circulation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and electronic health technologies are changing how physicians conceptualize and treat diseases. Although these futuristic advancements are leading to improvements in quality, safety, and patient outcomes, these technologies also are dramatically changing the cyber threat landscape. Kevin W.