Open-source software libraries for surgical, biomedical, and artificial intelligence technologies have made remarkable progress, fuelled by rapid innovation and their ability to quickly adapt to emerging technologies. This success has been made possible by the growth of partnerships between academia, healthcare centres, and industry, alongside the continuous release of open-source software, algorithms, models, datasets, and comprehensive documentation. Furthermore, the global accessibility of open-source initiatives ensures that people worldwide can benefit from cutting-edge advancements in healthcare, promoting tools that are more transparent, equitable, and accessible to all. By fostering the development of open-source tools, we have witnessed the empowerment of students, researchers, engineers, and clinicians to collaborate, innovate, and drive meaningful improvements in healthcare outcomes.
However, the rapid advancement of research-driven technologies, combined with the need to balance innovation with regulation and the challenges of clinical translation such as costs and long-term timelines, introduces several new challenges: 1) ensuring fast prototyping and validation of new algorithms, 2) ensuring the standardisation of data quality and the protection of data privacy, 3) dealing with fragmented source code for heterogeneous systems, 4) enabling high performance of medical image computing and visualisation in the operating room, and 5) using the latest generation of software and hardware.
We believe that open-source software libraries hold great potential to transform healthcare by evolving into sustainable, long-term-supported tools that are well-suited for clinical applications. This workshop aims to bring together engineers, researchers, and clinicians from academia and industry to share their innovative work through keynote talks, technical talks, spotlight presentations, abstract papers and poster sessions, accompanied by awards. This workshop offers a valuable opportunity to discuss progress and challenges, explore emerging trends, and collaboratively build a strong and enduring community dedicated to advancing healthcare solutions.