Hugo RAS digital platform enables AI-driven case review and telementoring

The Hugo robotic-assisted surgery system's integration with Medtronic's Touch Surgery enterprise platform offers a digitally connected surgical environment that extends well beyond case recording, according to James R. Porter, MD, a urologist with Swedish Health Services in Seattle, Washington and chief medical officer for Medtronic Robotic Surgical Technologies and Digital Technologies.

Touch Surgery is platform-agnostic, meaning it can be deployed independently of the Hugo system. Porter noted that he is currently using it alongside a different robotic platform at his institution.

"It is working very, very nicely and allows me to gain insights into my cases immediately," he said.

The core functionality centers on AI-driven case segmentation. Within 60 to 90 seconds of stopping a recording, the surgeon receives a notification that the case is available for review—not as a single continuous video, but parsed into discrete procedural steps identified automatically by the system. For training programs, Porter described this as a meaningful advance in how debriefs can be conducted.

"There's no better debrief than to go over the video because our memories are limited on what can be remembered from a particular surgical procedure," he said. Rather than going through an entire case to locate a specific moment, surgeons and trainees can navigate directly to the relevant step—the nerve-sparing dissection during a prostatectomy, for example, or the anastomosis.

The platform also incorporates real-time anatomic recognition. Using AI-based overlay technology, Touch Surgery can identify key structures—such as the neurovascular bundle during prostatectomy—and display their location relative to adjacent anatomy intraoperatively. Porter framed this as a practical guidance tool with potential implications for surgical precision and outcomes in nerve-sparing cases.

A second component, Live Stream, functions as a two-way audio and video telementoring platform. Surgeons can invite remote colleagues into their operating room virtually, or enter another surgeon's case for collaborative review or teaching—without requiring physical presence.

"I can draw and show things, and then people watching me can draw and show me what they're looking at," Porter said, describing illustration tools embedded in the interface. He noted that he had used the platform for a live stream and stream cast the previous week.

Porter positioned the digital suite as a differentiator for the Hugo system in the current robotic landscape.

"We feel our digital offering is the leader in current robotic platforms," he said.

Beyond the technology itself, Porter emphasized that Hugo's entry into the US market addresses a broader need.

"One of the big motivators for bringing a new platform in the United States for urology in particular is choice," he said. "Choice is something that allows surgeons to be more flexible, allows them to innovate, allows our surgeons to treat the patients specific to their need."