Artificial intelligence (AI) could revolutionise neurosurgery, making it safer and more effective in as little as two years.
This is according to a leading neurosurgeon in the UK.
Trainee surgeons are embracing this new AI technology, which enhances precision in minimally invasive neurosurgery.
Developed at the University College London, the system effectively highlights tiny tumours and crucial structures, such as blood vessels within the brain’s core.
The government has hailed this advancement as a potential game-changer for healthcare in the UK.
Neurosurgery demands unparalleled precision and attention to detail.
Safeguarding the pituitary gland is of paramount importance.
Hani Marcus is a consultant neurosurgeon at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and Honorary Associate Professor at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology.
He specialises in treating patients with pituitary adenoma and related skull-base tumours. His expertise lies in the use of a ‘keyhold’ endoscopic approach.
He told the BBC: ‘If you go too small with your approach, then you risk not removing enough of the tumour, Surgeons like myself – even if you're very experienced – can, with the help of AI, do a better job to find that boundary than without it. You could, in a few years, have an AI system that has seen more operations than any human has ever or could ever see.’
The AI system has meticulously analysed more than 200 videos of pituitary surgeries within 10 months, acquiring a level of expertise that would typically take a human surgeon a decade to attain.
In a tweet on X (formerly Twitter), Britain’s AI government minister Viscount Camrose wrote: ‘Great to speak to BBC News about the difference AI is already making at the cutting edge of medicine. Whether we're surgeons or schoolteachers, AI can make us the superhero versions of ourselves in the workplace – it is vital we seize this opportunity.’
The University College London (UCL), backed by government funding, is at the forefront of healthcare innovation, with engineers, clinicians, and scientists collaborating at the Wellcome/Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences to advance medical practices in the UK.
