Artificial Intelligence in Our Practice - What It Does, and What It Does Not

Artificial intelligence is now part of everyday medicine. It is also the subject of a great deal of exaggeration. This page sets out precisely where we use it, what the published evidence supports, and — equally important — where we deliberately do not use it.

1. Your treatment options, weighed against the literature

This is the part of our practice that most patients find genuinely different, and it is where we use artificial intelligence.

For every patient we prepare a Personalised Evidence-Based Treatment Analysis. It is a written document that sets out your history and your condition, then weighs each available treatment option against the international literature as it applies to your particular case — with the benefits, the risks and the published success rates for each. Advanced artificial intelligence is used to search and synthesise that literature. Dr. Blionas then reviews the analysis, corrects it, and approves it before it reaches you.

There is a practical reason for that final step, and it is worth stating plainly. Studies of artificial intelligence writing medical information for spine patients have found the content generally accurate but written at a reading level far above what patients should be asked to manage. The value is in the synthesis; the clarity has to come from the surgeon.

The document is yours to keep. Many patients take it to another physician when seeking a second opinion, and that is exactly what it is designed for. The analysis is charged at €300. Where a surgical indication is identified, it is provided free of charge.

2. Precision when your operation requires screws

Not every spinal problem is treated by decompression alone. Where instability means that screws are required, the accuracy with which they are placed is the single factor that most affects the safety of the operation.

A meta-analysis of 12 randomised controlled trials, covering 892 patients and 4,046 screws, compared computer-navigated and robot-assisted screw placement against freehand placement under fluoroscopy. Navigated and robot-assisted placement was significantly more accurate (odds ratio 2.66), with far fewer violations of the adjacent facet joints (relative risk 0.09) and fewer major complications (relative risk 0.31) — Matur et al., The Spine Journal, 2023.

In our operations, screws are placed using intraoperative three-dimensional imaging with navigation (O-arm). The position of every screw is confirmed on imaging during the operation, before the patient leaves theatre.

3. Where the safeguards are

Technology assists. It does not decide. Three principles govern how we use it.

Your diagnosis is made by a neurosurgeon. We do not use automated symptom checkers or algorithmic triage — published reviews place their diagnostic accuracy well below that of a clinical examination. Every assessment here begins with a specialist examination and ends with a specialist opinion.

Every report carries the surgeon’s name. Artificial intelligence drafts and analyses; Dr. Blionas reviews, corrects and approves. Nothing reaches you unread. Independent research confirms that specialist physicians remain more accurate than any current system working on its own — which is precisely why the surgeon, and not the software, signs the conclusion.

Probabilities are presented as probabilities. Risk-prediction models are valuable in conversation and misleading as verdicts. We show you what the evidence suggests for someone in your position, together with the uncertainty that surrounds it. That is what genuine informed consent requires.

4. How your data is handled

Artificial intelligence is used here as a supporting tool under the full supervision of the treating physician. No decision is taken autonomously, and clinical responsibility remains entirely with the surgeon. Any personal health data processed for these purposes is handled in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Cyprus Law 125(I)/2018, under a signed data processing agreement with each provider. Details are set out in our Privacy Policy.