May 23, 2024
Mayo Clinic clinician-researchers are at the forefront of developing artificial intelligence (AI) applications for neurosurgery.
"Artificial intelligence will provide a good portion of future innovations in healthcare. That's the case not just in knowledge-based fields but certainly in technical and interventional fields like neurosurgery," says Richard W. Byrne, M.D., a neurosurgeon who recently joined Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.
One particular focus is brain-computer interfaces. Dr. Byrne is co-principal investigator of a study involving intracortical visual prostheses to treat blindness. The study, funded partly by the National Institutes of Health, is a collaboration with the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Two years ago, Dr. Byrne performed the first implantation of wireless electrodes to provide artificial vision. "We implanted 400 completely wireless electrodes in the right occipital cortex of a man with total blindness. The artificial vision helps him to navigate a room and pick things up," Dr. Byrne says. "There are countless potential applications."
Dr. Byrne's clinical practice focuses on glioma and skull base tumors. He also has deep experience with cortical mapping in awake brain surgery. He notes that awake craniotomies were first performed a century ago.
"This is not new. It's just better and safer now," he says. "Patients tolerate it remarkably well. In fact, many patients seek it because they then participate in the procedure, monitoring their own function. Patients love that sense of control."
Surgeons are also empowered. "Some tumors may be obvious on MRI but completely unobvious during surgery. The borders are quite fuzzy," Dr. Byrne says. "With awake craniotomy, you have instant feedback. You know that what you're doing is safe."
Mayo Clinic's clinical care and research efforts are bolstered by physicians' close ties to professional organizations. Dr. Byrne recently became president-elect of the Society of Neurological Surgeons. He is a director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and a member of the board of directors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, as well as a past president of the Neurosurgical Society of America.
That deep experience dovetails with AI's strengths. "AI is really good at putting into words what an experienced surgeon might have an intuition about," Dr. Byrne says. "After 25 years of clinical practice, you have an intuition of what you should and should not do. AI is pretty good at figuring out why you feel that way."
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