AI system sharpens brain tumour treatment during surgery

A new AI-supported system at Innsbruck Clinic is improving the treatment of brain tumours by determining the tumour and its extent within a very short time, allowing doctors to adjust the treatment strategy during surgery, ORF reported.

The system, called NIO, visualises tumour tissue and enables neurosurgeons to remove cancerous growths with millimetre precision while protecting healthy brain tissue.

Nanopore sequencing, which has already been in use for some time, allows the tumour type to be identified through rapid DNA analysis. This information is available during the operation, enabling an immediate adjustment to the treatment strategy, said neurosurgeon Christian Freyschlag.

The waiting time for a diagnosis is being reduced from several weeks to a few hours or minutes, said Adelheid Wöhrer, head of the Institute of Neuropathology. This also allows treatment decisions to be made earlier.

Tirol Kliniken and the Medical University of Innsbruck want the system to strengthen Innsbruck as one of the leading centres in this field. Across Austria, only one other centre in Vienna is equipped with the latest technical capabilities in neurosurgery, said Thomas Klestil, medical managing director of Tirol Kliniken.

Medical University of Innsbruck rector Gert Mayr praised the cooperation and said he was optimistic that it could serve as a model for further pathology partnerships between Tirol Kliniken and the university.