# A consented commons of surgical video linked to pathology and outcomes

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-data-surgical-video-commons/  
OnCo record `idea-data-surgical-video-commons` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Record cancer operations (with consent), link each video to the pathology report and the patient's recovery, and open the collection to researchers to learn what surgical technique actually works.

## Summary

Robotic and laparoscopic cancer surgery is routinely video-recorded, yet the recordings are deleted. A governed commons linking de-identified surgical video to margin status, lymph node yield, complications and survival would allow surgical technique to be studied at scale and surgical AI (phase recognition, skill assessment) to be validated against outcomes. Academic skill-assessment studies have already shown that surgeon skill rated from video predicts outcomes.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Video-derived measures of technique and skill will explain a meaningful share of between-surgeon variation in positive margins and complications, and feedback based on them will reduce that variation.
- Rationale: Birkmeyer et al. (NEJM 2013) showed peer-rated surgical skill from video predicts complication rates; the tools to scale this with AI exist but lack data.
- Proposed test: Collect 2,000 consented robotic prostatectomy or colectomy videos across five centres with linked outcomes; test whether automated skill scores predict positive margins and 30-day complications.
- Maturity: speculative
- Actor: research

## Sources

- Bottleneck evidence (Data silos): AACR Project GENIE: https://www.aacr.org/professionals/research/aacr-project-genie/

## Connected records

- fronts: [AI & Computation](https://onco.cc/fronts/ai-computation/), [Surgery & Interventional](https://onco.cc/fronts/surgery/)
- technologies: [Robotic & minimally invasive surgery](https://onco.cc/technologies/robotic-surgery/)
- companies: [Intuitive Surgical](https://onco.cc/companies/intuitive-surgical/)
- bottlenecks: [Data silos](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-data-silos/), [Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-surgery-radiation-innovation/)

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