Artificial intelligence for the future of digital surgery

npj Digital Surgery, cilt.1, sa.1, ss.1-3, 2026 (Hakemli Dergi)

Advancing evidence to accelerate

universal health coverage Global surgical inequity remains one

of the most persistent and consequential

challenges in modern

healthcare. Despite significant

advances in medical technology and clinical

expertise, more than half of the world’s population

still lacks access to essential health services,

and the majority of individuals living in

low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are

unable to obtain safe, timely surgical care1. This

disparity reflects not only limitations in infrastructure

and workforce distribution but also

structural barriers that prevent specialized

knowledge from reaching the populations that

need it most. In many regions, treatable surgical

conditions continue to evolve into preventable

disability and mortality simply because expertise

and resources are geographically

concentrated2.

In this context,