On February 2024, the surgical community’s lead clinicians, engineers, innovators, industry representatives, venture capitalists gathered in Houston for an electrifying convergence at the SAGES “Next Big Thing” NBT Innovation Weekend chaired by Dr. Christopher Schlachta. The event kicked off with the annual NOSCAR conference where everything from literally incisionless, natural orifice specimen extraction, to sutureless, magnetic bowel anastomosis, to the invasion of surgery by interventional radiology techniques was presented and debated. The next two days consisted of Dr. Erik Wilson’s increasingly engaging Surgical Disruptive Technology Summit (SDTS). This summit reclaimed its crown as the apex arena for unveiling groundbreaking technologies that are redefining procedural medicine. The kick-off was an exciting AI symposium hosted by Dr. Filipo Filicori. This provided a deep dive into the latest AI-powered surgical innovations, from computer vision to cutting-edge video data analysis, workflow enhancement tools, robotic performance analytics and cloud infrastructure for healthcare management. Attendees engaged in a dynamic lunch panel on the frontiers of surgical innovation and listened to gripping cautionary tales of innovation in the “Innovators M&M” panel. The excitement peaked with the SAGES Shark Tank semi-finals, where eight visionary startups duked it out for the opportunity to take the stage at SAGES 2024 in Cleveland in the Shark Tank finals.
The day was capped with Billy Cohn’s inspiring lecture on the evolving landscape of innovation. The following day was a whirlwind of knowledge exchange, with rapid-fire panels igniting discussions on the latest in surgical technology. Attendees were treated to a showcase of the future: cutting-edge Surgical Analysis Tools, immersive surgical simulators, novel hernia repair instruments, powerful ablative energy devices, advanced insufflators, precise trocar closure systems, innovative anastomoses techniques, versatile flexible endoscopes, groundbreaking endoluminal surgical instruments, and a spotlight on the unaddressed needs in surgery. The discourse continued with an in-depth look at state-of-the-art Digital Surgical analysis tools and ecosystems, culminating in a compelling discussion on new horizons in single port and multiport robotic devices. In parallel, the visionary SAGES AI task force, under the leadership of Dr. Oz Meireles, convened to forge a Delphi consensus on the pivotal elements of data structure, governance, data utilization, and the key players in the data lifecycle. The buzz and attendance at the SAGES NBT Innovation Weekend continues to grow four years on.
Dr. Filipo Filicori
Dr. Christopher Schlachta, SAGES President-Elect