# An AI Framework for Microanastomosis Motion Assessment

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.21120 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.21120/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 7 of its 16 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 Jan 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [Segment Anything](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.02643/) (2023)
- [You Only Look Once: Unified, Real-Time Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.02640/) (2015)
- [Simple Online and Realtime Tracking with a Deep Association Metric](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.07402/) (2017)
- [EndoNet: A Deep Architecture for Recognition Tasks on Laparoscopic Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.03012/) (2016)
- [Video-based surgical skill assessment using 3D convolutional neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.02306/) (2019)
- [Interpretable Machine Learning with an Ensemble of Gradient Boosting Machines](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.07388/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [An Integrated Video-AI Platform for Action-Level Microanastomosis Training and Performance Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.06380/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Proficiency in microanastomosis is a fundamental competency across multiple microsurgical disciplines. These procedures demand exceptional precision and refined technical skills, making effective, standardized assessment methods essential. Traditionally, the evaluation of microsurgical techniques has relied heavily on the subjective judgment of expert raters. They are inherently constrained by limitations such as inter-rater variability, lack of standardized evaluation criteria, susceptibility to cognitive bias, and the time-intensive nature of manual review. These shortcomings underscore the urgent need for an objective, reliable, and automated system capable of assessing microsurgical performance with consistency and scalability. To bridge this gap, we propose a novel AI framework for the automated assessment of microanastomosis instrument handling skills. The system integrates four core components: (1) an instrument detection module based on the You Only Look Once (YOLO) architecture; (2) an instrument tracking module developed from Deep Simple Online and Realtime Tracking (DeepSORT); (3) an instrument tip localization module employing shape descriptors; and (4) a supervised classification module trained on expert-labeled data to evaluate instrument handling proficiency. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework, achieving an instrument detection precision of 97%, with a mean Average Precision (mAP) of 96%, measured by Intersection over Union (IoU) thresholds ranging from 50% to 95% (mAP50-95).