First AI-guided brain surgery removes tumour and saves patient's sight

A 48-year-old British man has become the first patient in the world to undergo brain surgery guided by live artificial intelligence, a procedure that successfully removed a tumour and saved his sight. The operation, performed in May 2026 at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, was announced by University College London Hospitals on Thursday, August 27, 2026.

The patient, Rhys Hibbert from Bedfordshire, was diagnosed with a non-cancerous 11mm tumour on his pituitary gland in December 2024 after collapsing during a walk and suffering a seizure. His symptoms, which included severe hormone imbalance and deteriorating vision, worsened over time. Surgeons warned that without intervention, the tumour could have caused blindness. Hibbert, a customer service manager, volunteered for the clinical trial, stating, "If patients are not prepared to join research how can doctors ever learn and how can medicine ever progress?"

The surgery was conducted at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, part of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The AI system, developed in-house at the UCL Hawkes Institute and funded by the National...