Abstract
During rhinoplasty consultations, surgeons typically create a computer simulation
of the expected result. An artificial intelligence model (AIM) can learn a surgeon's
style and criteria and generate the simulation automatically. The objective of this
study is to determine if an AIM is capable of imitating a surgeon's criteria to generate
simulated images of an aesthetic rhinoplasty surgery. This is a cross-sectional survey
study of resident and specialist doctors in otolaryngology conducted in the month
of November 2019 during a rhinoplasty conference. Sequential images of rhinoplasty
simulations created by a surgeon and by an AIM were shown at random. Participants
used a seven-point Likert scale to evaluate their level of agreement with the simulation
images they were shown, with 1 indicating total disagreement and 7 total agreement.
Ninety-seven of 122 doctors agreed to participate in the survey. The median level
of agreement between the participant and the surgeon was 6 (interquartile range or
IQR 5–7); between the participant and the AIM it was 5 (IQR 4–6), p-value < 0.0001. The evaluators were in total or partial agreement with the results
of the AIM's simulation 68.4% of the time (95% confidence interval or CI 64.9–71.7).
They were in total or partial agreement with the surgeon's simulation 77.3% of the
time (95% CI 74.2–80.3). An AIM can emulate a surgeon's aesthetic criteria to generate
a computer-simulated image of rhinoplasty. This can allow patients to have a realistic
approximation of the possible results of a rhinoplasty ahead of an in-person consultation.
The level of evidence of the study is 4.
Keywords
artificial intelligence - rhinoplasty - simulation
