MUTUAL: Towards Holistic Sensing and Inference in the Operating Room

Embodied AI (E-AI) in the form of intelligent surgical robotics and other agents is calling for data platforms to facilitate its development and deployment. In this work, we present a cross-platform multimodal data recording and streaming software, MUTUAL, successfully deployed on two clinical studies, along with its ROS 2 distributed adaptation, MUTUAL-ROS 2. We describe and compare the two implementations of MUTUAL through their recording performance under different settings. MUTUAL offers robust recording performance at target configurations for multiple modalities, including video, audio, and live expert commentary. While this recording performance is not matched by MUTUALROS2, we demonstrate its advantages related to real-time streaming capabilities for AI inference and more horizontal scalability, key aspects for E-AI systems in the operating room. Our findings demonstrate that the baseline MUTUAL is well-suited for data curation and offline analysis, whereas MUTUAL-ROS 2, should match the recording reliability of the baseline system under a fully distributed manner where modalities are handled independently by edge computing devices. These insights are critical for advancing the integration of E-AI in surgical practice, ensuring that data infrastructure can support both robust recording andreal-time processing needs

Spontaneous lumbar intraspinal subdural abscess: a case report

Abstract Background Subdural spinous abscess is a rare pathology that carries significant morbidity if not diagnosed and treated early; of the cases reported in the literature, very few are genuinely spontaneous in nature. Case presentation Here we demonstrate the case of an otherwise entirely fit and well 56-year-old White, British female presenting with low back pain, bilateral sciatica and sensate urinary retention; lumbar subdural spinous abscess was diagnosed on urgent magnetic resonance imaging and the patient was successfully managed with surgical evacuation and prolonged antibiotic therapy. The patient made a full neurological recovery and was followed-up in the outpatient setting 12 weeks following her initial surgery; she was pain free with normal inflammatory markers and a normal neurological examination. There have been no further consultations and a telephone call at 20 weeks confirmed that she remains well. Conclusions This is the second case reported in the literature of a genuinely spontaneous subdural spinous abscess, which was successfully managed with surgical evacuation following prompt diagnosis. This highlights the need to ensure infective pathologies are kept at the back of one’s mind even in the most unlikely circumstances, and that excellent outcomes can be achieved with early surgical intervention