IP Library Granted Patent US 12,322,500
Granted Patent B1
US 12,322,500 · App. 17/402,154 · Granted Jun 3, 2025

Predicting surgical case lengths using machine learning

Inventor: Zetong Li (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee: LeanTaaS, Inc.
G16H40/20G06N20/00
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,322,500
App. No.
17/402,154
Granted
Jun 3, 2025
Kind
B1
Abstract

The prediction system accesses a flowchart of questions relating to surgical cases and receives, for each of set of surgical case identifiers, surgical case information and an actual surgical case length. The prediction system trains a machine learning model to predict surgical case lengths using the surgical case information and prunes the flowchart by removing questions associated with a uniform set of answers. The prediction system receives, from a client device, a request to reserve an operating room for a surgical case, and transmits, for display via a user interface of the client device, questions from the flowchart. The prediction system receives a feature vector of answers to the transmitted questions from the client device and inputs a type surgical case and the feature vector to the machine learning model, which outputs a predicted surgical case length. The prediction system reserves an operating room for the predicted surgical case length.

Claims (60)

1. A computer-implemented method for predicting surgical case length, the method comprising:

accessing a flowchart of questions relating to surgical cases;

receiving, for each of a set of surgical case identifiers, surgical case information and an actual surgical case length, the surgical case information including a surgical case type and one or more feature vectors of answers to questions from the flowchart;

training a machine learning model on the surgical case information and on the actual surgical case lengths for the set of surgical case identifiers, the machine learning model trained to predict a future surgical case length for a future surgical case based on a future surgical case type;

pruning the flowchart by removing questions associated with a uniform set of answers;

receiving, via a user interface of a client device, a request to reserve an operating room for a particular future surgical case, the request including a particular future surgical case type;

transmitting, for display via the user interface of the client device, questions from the flowchart, wherein each question is transmitted based on a previous answer input for a previous question;

receiving, from the client device, one or more feature vectors of answers to the questions entered via the user interface;

inputting the particular future surgical case type and the received one or more feature vectors of answers to the questions to the machine learning model;

determining, for each feature vector, an estimated time, the estimated time representing an amount of time surgical cases associated with the feature vector took to perform;

pruning the flowchart based on the estimated times;

receiving, from the machine learning model, a predicted surgical case length for the particular future surgical case; and

reserving the operating room for the predicted surgical case length.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the flowchart is associated with the particular future surgical case type.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

pruning the flowchart by removing questions with a selection percentage below a lower threshold percentage.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the machine learning model is trained for a medical professional who will perform the particular future surgical case.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the machine learning model is trained for the particular future surgical case.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the machine learning model is trained for a medical facility.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting, for display via the user interface, a confirmation of the reservation of the operating room, the confirmation including the predicted surgical case length.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions executable by a processor, the instructions comprising:

instructions for accessing a flowchart of questions relating to surgical cases;

instructions for receiving, for each of a set of surgical case identifiers, surgical case information and an actual surgical case length, the surgical case information including a surgical case type and one or more feature vectors of answers to questions from the flowchart;

instructions for training a machine learning model on the surgical case information and on the actual surgical case lengths for the set of surgical case identifiers, the machine learning model trained to predict a future surgical case length for a future surgical case based on a future surgical case type;

instructions for pruning the flowchart by removing questions associated with a uniform set of answers;

instructions for receiving, via a user interface of a client device, a request to reserve an operating room for a particular future surgical case, the request including a type-f particular future surgical case type;

instructions for transmitting, for display via the user interface of the client device, questions from the flowchart, wherein each question is transmitted based on a previous answer input for a previous question;

instructions for receiving, from the client device, one or more feature vectors of answers to the questions entered via the user interface;

instructions for inputting the type-f particular future surgical case type and the received one or more feature vectors of answers to the questions to the machine learning model;

instructions for determining, for each feature vector, an estimated time, the estimated time representing an amount of time surgical cases associated with the feature vector took to perform;

instructions for pruning the flowchart based on the estimated times;

instructions for receiving, from the machine learning model, a predicted surgical case length for the particular future surgical case; and

instructions for reserving the operating room for the predicted surgical case length.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the flowchart is associated with the particular future surgical case type.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , the instructions further comprising:

instructions for pruning the flowchart by removing questions with a selection percentage below a lower threshold percentage.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the machine learning model is trained for a medical professional who will perform the particular future surgical case.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the machine learning model is trained for the particular future surgical case.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the machine learning model is trained for a medical facility.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , the instructions further comprising:

instructions for transmitting, for display via the user interface, a confirmation of the reservation of the operating room, the confirmation including the predicted surgical case length.

15. A computer system comprising:

a computer processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storage instructions that when executed by the computer processor perform actions comprising:

accessing a flowchart of questions relating to surgical cases;

receiving, for each of a set of surgical case identifiers, surgical case information and an actual surgical case length, the surgical case information including a surgical case type and one or more feature vectors of answers to questions from the flowchart;

training a machine learning model on the surgical case information and on the actual surgical case lengths for the set of surgical case identifiers, the machine learning model trained to predict a future surgical case length for a future surgical case based on a future surgical case type;

pruning the flowchart by removing questions associated with a uniform set of answers;

receiving, via a user interface of a client device, a request to reserve an operating room for a particular future surgical case, the request including a particular future surgical case type;

transmitting, for display via the user interface of the client device, questions from the flowchart, wherein each question is transmitted based on a previous answer input for a previous question;

receiving, from the client device, one or more feature vectors of answers to the questions entered via the user interface;

inputting the particular future surgical case type and the received one or more feature vectors of answers to the questions to the machine learning model;

determining, for each feature vector, an estimated time, the estimated time representing an amount of time surgical cases associated with the feature vector took to perform;

pruning the flowchart based on the estimated times;

receiving, from the machine learning model, a predicted surgical case length for the particular future surgical case; and

reserving the operating room for the predicted surgical case length.

16. The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the flowchart is associated with the particular future surgical case type.

17. The computer system of claim 15 , the actions further comprising:

instructions for pruning the flowchart by removing questions with a selection percentage below a lower threshold percentage.

Assignments (2)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 12, 2022
From: LEANTAAS, INC.
To: TC LENDING, LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 060488/0008 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 19, 2021
From: LI, ZETONG
To: LEANTAAS, INC.
Reel/Frame 057235/0817 →
Continuity (1)
Provisional Application 63069897 · Aug 25, 2020
References Cited (5)
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US 20200012673A1 · Rudzicz · 2020 [cited by examiner]
Machine Learning Approach to Predicting Case Duration for Robot-Assisted Surgery by Zhao et al, 2019 (Year: 2019). [cited by examiner]
Cited By (1)
US 12,675,551