An automated pain recognition system using artificial intelligence (AI) holds promise as an unbiased method to detect pain in patients before, during and after surgery, according to a research.

Currently, subjective methods are used to assess pain, including the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) -- where patients rate their own pain -- and the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) -- where health care professionals rate the patient’s pain based on facial expression, body movement and muscle tension.