UK hospital performs world's first live AI-guided brain surgery to save patient's sight

A 48-year-old British man became the first patient in the world to undergo live AI-assisted brain surgery, which protected his sight during the removal of a tumor, University College London Hospitals announced on Thursday.

Rhys Hibbert, from Bedfordshire, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December 2024 after collapsing during a walk and suffering a seizure. As his symptoms worsened, he opted for surgery and volunteered to participate in the clinical trial. “If patients are not prepared to join research how can doctors ever learn and how can medicine ever progress?” Hibbert said. “Asked if I would be prepared to be the world's first patient to have this technology used live… I said, yes, of course.”

The operation was performed at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, part of UCLH. Surgeons used AI technology developed at University College London and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. During the procedure, the AI analyzed live surgical video in real time, rather than relying on pre-surgery scans, to help the team identify critical structures near the tumor at the base of the brain, where the pituitary gland sits close to blood vessels and nerves controlling vision. A margin of error of just 1 millimeter could have led to blindness, stroke, or death, according to UCLH.

Hibbert’s tumor threatened his vision, and without intervention, it could have caused blindness, his doctors said. The surgery successfully removed the growth and preserved his sight. Upon waking, Hibbert reported a dramatic improvement: “When I came round… I could see everything in the room clearly.”

The AI system also has the potential to track surgical instruments and their interactions with tissue, providing feedback to support surgeons during complex procedures, UCLH stated. The trial marks the first successful use of real-time AI guidance in such an operation, according to the hospital .