Automatic speech recognition in the operating room - An essential contemporary tool or a redundant gadget? A survey evaluation among physicians in form of a qualitative study

Antonia Schulte; Rodrigo Suarez-Ibarrola; Daniel Wegen; Philippe-Fabian Pohlmann; Elina Petersen; Arkadiusz Miernik

doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2020.09.015

Automatic speech recognition in the operating room - An essential contemporary tool or a redundant gadget? A survey evaluation among physicians in form of a qualitative study

Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2020 Sep 13:59:81-85. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2020.09.015. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Authors

Antonia Schulte¹, Rodrigo Suarez-Ibarrola¹, Daniel Wegen², Philippe-Fabian Pohlmann¹, Elina Petersen³, Arkadiusz Miernik¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Centre - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
² DW-Embedded, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany.
³ Epidemiological Study Center, University Hospital Hamburg, Germany.

Abstract

Introduction: For decades, automatic speech recognition (ASR) has been the subject of research and its range of applications broadened. Presently, ASR among physicians is mainly used to convert speech into text but not to implement instructions in the operating room (OR). This study aimed to evaluate physicians of different surgical professions on their personal experience and posture towards ASR.

Methods: A 16-item survey was distributed electronically to hospitals and outpatient clinics in southern Germany addressing physicians on the potential applications of ASR in the OR.

Results: The survey was responded by 185 of 2693 physicians (response rate: 6.9%) with a mean age of 41.8 ± 9.8 years. ASR is desirable in the OR regardless of the field of speciality (93.7%). While only 2.7% have used ASR, 87.9% evaluate its future potential as high. 91.0% of those working in a university hospital would consider testing ASR, while 67.5% of those in non-university hospitals and practices (p = 0.001). 90.1% of responders of strictly surgical specialities see potential in ASR while 73.7% in non-surgical specialities evaluate its future potential as high (p = 0.01). 58.3% of those over the age of 60 consider the use of ASR without a headset to be imaginable, while 96.3% among those under the age of 60. There were no statistically significant differences regarding sex and professional position.

Conclusion: Foreseeably, ASR is anticipated to be integrated into ORs and valued at a high market potential. Our study provides information about physicians' individual preferences from various surgical disciplines regarding ASR.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Automatic speech recognition; Intelligent operating assistance; Machine learning; Operating room of the future; Speech understanding; Voice recognition.