Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Risk Assessment and Complication Prediction in Thoracic Surgery

“One of the biggest challenges for thoracic surgeons is that preoperative risk calculators are very generic and don't capture the real complexity of the patients we see every day. Many lung cancer patients are older, have multiple comorbidities or present with subtle imaging findings that generic models miss. Our goal was to improve how surgeons assess risk, plan perioperative care and counsel patients by bringing together clinical nuance, imaging detail and physician insight in a way that directly supports more personalized care.”

“The strength of this multimodal framework is that it brings together what clinicians know, what imaging shows and what AI can help explain. Each piece captures a different aspect of the patient's condition, helping us assess postoperative risk in a way that's tailored to the individual.”

“For more than five decades, UB has been a leader in artificial intelligence for public good. Today, this expertise is transforming cancer research, using AI to detect disease earlier and opening new pathways to prevention and cure.”