AI helps perform brain surgery on British man in world first

A British man has become the first person in the world to have a brain tumour removed via AI-assisted surgery.

Rhys Hibbert was operated on by surgeons at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), part of University College London (UCL) Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Live artificial intelligence was utilised to identify miniscule anatomy in the brain. It colour-coded important structures to help surgeons know which areas to avoid while removing the tumour.

With so many important functions of the brain packed tightly together, including nerves controlling vision, the hospital's team said "going a millimetre wrong can make a critical difference".

Mr Hibbert, 48, said the operation – which took place in May – had saved his eyesight, and he is now back at work.

He said he was "very humbled to have been asked" to be the focus of the world-first operation.

Made in the UK

Professor Hani Marcus, a consultant neurosurgeon, said it was an "important step" and was keen to celebrate that the artificial intelligence used was "homegrown" in the UK.

It developed "in-house" at the UCL Hawkes Institute and was trained using hundreds of videos of brain surgeries.

AI-powered tools have already been used in other types of surgery in the UK. One named Eureka, developed in Japan, was used to perform a bowel resection on a woman at St Mark's, the National Bowel Hospital, in June.

It's also hoped AI could be used to help identify people at risk of diseases, including cancer, and relive pressure on NHS hospitals.

(c) Sky News 2026: AI helps perform brain surgery on British man in world first