Abu Dhabi to Equip Operating Rooms With AI Data Platform

The Department of Health Abu Dhabi is connecting operating rooms across the emirate’s hospitals to Johnson & Johnson’s Polyphonic surgical technology platform. The system will capture video, audio, imaging, and monitor readings from procedures performed at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, PureHealth, Mediclinic, and NMC Healthcare.

Surgeons will be able to review recordings of their own cases, share clips with colleagues, and examine decisions made during operations. Pre-operative briefings that previously relied on WhatsApp messages or handwritten notes will be stored in a single digital location.

Schulam, chief scientific officer of MedTech at Johnson & Johnson, described plans for real-time guidance that could identify anatomical structures before an incision is made. Dr. Noura Al Ghaithi, department undersecretary, said the regulator may later issue clinical guidelines that recommend specific surgical approaches or timing once sufficient data are available.

The department has already used similar data to lower the recommended age for breast cancer screening from 50 to 40.

Hospitals that normally compete for patients will share operating-room data under standards set by the Department of Health. The UAE spends about 5 percent of GDP on healthcare, according to the World Bank, and faces high rates of obesity-related conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

Patient records across more than 3,000 facilities are already consolidated in the Malaffi health-information system.