World-first AI-assisted brain surgery performed in London
Neurosurgeons in London have performed what they describe as the world's first successful AI-assisted operation to remove a brain tumour, saving the sight of a 48-year-old man.
The surgery took place in May at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), part of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Details were kept under wraps until Thursday while the patient, Rhys Hibbert, recovered.
Hibbert, from Bedfordshire, said the operation saved his sight and he is now back at work as a customer service manager. "When I came round … I could see everything in the room clearly," he told reporters. "It feels like I've got a 360-degree panoramic view of everything around me."
AI as a surgical aid
During the procedure, the surgical team remained in full control, but an AI system analysed live camera footage in real time, helping to identify key structures such as nerves and blood vessels near the 11mm tumour on Hibbert's pituitary gland. The technology colour-codes or segments crucial anatomy to help clinicians recognise them safely.
The AI was developed in-house at the UCL Hawkes Institute and trained on hundreds of videos of brain surgeries. The hospital had previously used the technology as a research tool, but this was the first time it had been used on a live patient.
Dr Sophia Bano, an associate professor in robotics and AI at UCL and the technical lead for the AI system, said: "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."
The delicate nature of the operation
Health officials explained that in this part of the brain, the pituitary gland, blood vessels and nerves controlling vision are tightly packed together, and "going a millimetre wrong can make a critical difference", potentially leading to blindness, stroke or death. The AI highlighted which precise areas to avoid while removing the tumour.
Hibbert, who was diagnosed in 2024 after collapsing during a walk and suffering a seizure, had initially been managed without surgery, but his symptoms — including severe hormone imbalance and vision problems — had worsened. Without the operation, he faced going blind, health officials said.
Within a week of the surgery, Hibbert was able to walk independently without glasses or sticks.
Reactions and context
Hibbert noted the historical significance of the hospital: "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." He added: "I'm very pleased to have had the opportunity to be cared for in the hospital… I'm also very humbled to have been asked if I'll be prepared to be the world's first patient in this research."
Prof Mike Lewis, the 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.
Earlier this summer, clinicians at St Mark's, the National Bowel Hospital, used a similar AI tool outside a research setting for the first time, according to a report from Yahoo News New Zealand.
The lead surgeon, Hani Marcus, is a consultant neurosurgeon at NHNN, UCLH and a professor at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology.