London Medical Team Achieves Medical Milestone with World-First AI-Guided Brain Tumour Surgery

In a groundbreaking medical achievement, neurosurgeons in London have successfully performed the world’s first AI-assisted operation to remove a brain tumour, preserving the vision of a 48-year-old man, according to health officials.

The pioneering procedure took place in May at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), part of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Details were held back until Thursday to allow the patient, Rhys Hibbert, time to recover.

Throughout the operation, the surgical team retained complete control while the AI system processed live camera feeds in real time. The technology helped distinguish critical structures, including delicate nerves and blood vessels, surrounding an 11mm (0.4in) tumour located on Hibbert’s pituitary gland.

“When I came round … I could see everything in the room clearly,” said Hibbert, who was walking independently without glasses or support sticks within a week of the procedure.

He has since resumed his role as a customer service manager. “It feels like I’ve got a 360-degree panoramic view of everything around me,” he remarked.

The surgical team utilised advanced AI technology capable of identifying microscopic anatomy within the brain by applying colour-coding to important structures, enabling surgeons to recognise them safely during the procedure.

While the hospital had employed the technology for research purposes previously, this operation marked its inaugural clinical application on a patient.

Because the pituitary gland, blood vessels, and vision-controlling nerves are clustered in an extremely confined space, “going a millimetre wrong can make a critical difference,” health officials explained, with potential consequences including blindness, stroke, or death.

Dr Sophia Bano, associate professor in robotics and AI at UCL and technical lead for the AI system, explained: “By learning from hundreds of surgical videos, [the system] has been exposed to a breadth of surgical examples that would take a surgeon many years to encounter.

“It is designed to help recognise critical anatomy, surgical instruments and tissue interactions in real time, supporting the surgeon during highly delicate procedures.”

Initially managed without surgery, Hibbert’s condition had deteriorated since his 2024 diagnosis, presenting with severe hormone imbalance and visual impairment. Without intervention, he faced irreversible blindness, according to health officials.

Hibbert, from Bedfordshire, reflected: “The NHNN was founded in 1859 … and was the world’s first dedicated neurosurgical hospital. So to me, it seems very fitting that the same hospital should also be the world’s first to carry out an AI-assisted neurosurgery.”

Prof Mike Lewis, scientific director for innovation at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which funded the operation as part of a clinical trial, said the “pioneering surgery” highlighted the potential of advanced AI to support surgeons and improve patient care.

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