Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

British Indian doctor conducts first virtual brain practice operation using AI

British Indian doctor conducts first virtual brain practice operation using AI

A British Indian surgeon has conducted the first practice operation on virtual brains using an artificial intelligence (AI) system, The Times reported.

Professor Tufail Patankar at Leeds Teaching Hospitals has carried out the surgery using the AI system designed to make brain surgery safer for patients, less stressful for surgeons and save a huge amount of money, the report added.


The system, developed by British start-up Oxford Heartbeat, allows surgeons to rehearse a risky procedure in a 3D representation of a patient’s brain, which they view on a computer screen.

Professor Tufail Patankar Professor Tufail Patankar

According to the newspaper report, It is the first time an AI-enabled tool has been used like this for operations where tiny stents, or tubes, are inserted in blood vessels to treat life-threatening aneurysms.

“This will transform surgery, making it safer,” Prof Patankar said.

A wider trial is now taking place in seven NHS trusts as the health service looks to new technologies to tackle waiting lists lengthened by the pandemic.

Brain aneurysms happen when a blood vessel bulges to form a balloon-type structure. If ruptured, they can be fatal or lead to brain damage, stroke and epilepsy.

In the past, US president Biden, actress Emilia Clarke and the rapper Dr Dre have been treated for the condition.

The surgery involves making an incision in the groin and feeding a fine tube through a large artery up to the tiny blood vessels inside the brain.

The tube is used to position the stent, a spring-like device that diverts blood flow, preventing a rupture. The stents are typically only a few millimetres in size but have complex mechanical structures. They are impossible to remove once placed, The Times report added.

Selecting the right stent is critical, and there are hundreds of types to choose from.

“They look like the spring from a ball-point pen but they cost more than £10,000 each,” Dr Katerina Spranger, the chief executive of Oxford Heartbeat, said.

The wrong stent can lead to complications, which at present occur in between 5 and 10 per cent of operations. “These are high-risk procedures and stressful for surgeons,” Spranger said.

The Oxford Heartbeat system has a library of “digital twins” — virtual models — of different stents. The AI predicts how they will behave inside a virtual brain, built using CT scans of the patient, allowing the surgeon to test the best fit before the operation.

Matthew Gould, chief executive of NHSX, told The Times that surgical teams using the new AI should achieve “better outcomes, fewer strokes and fuller recoveries”.

The first patient was Caroline Kuhnel, 64, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

More For You

Shabana Mahmood

Shabana Mahmood (Photo: Getty Images)

Calls grow for Shabana Mahmood to toughen settlement rules

HOME SECRETARY Shabana Mahmood is under pressure to immediately enforce stricter immigration rules as large numbers of migrants approach the point at which they can settle permanently in Britain.

Government figures revealed that from next year about 270,000 migrants will qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), the legal right to stay in the UK. The number is expected to rise sharply, reaching more than 600,000 by 2028, reported the Times.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kamala Harris calls Biden’s 2024 run ‘recklessness’ in new memoir

Former US vice president Kamala Harris speaks at the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco, California, on April 30, 2025. (Photo by CAMILLE COHEN/AFP via Getty Images)

Kamala Harris calls Biden’s 2024 run ‘recklessness’ in new memoir

FORMER US vice president Kamala Harris said it was "recklessness" to let Joe Biden run for a second term as president, in an excerpt released on Wednesday (10) from her upcoming memoir.

Harris -- who replaced Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate but lost to Donald Trump -- admitted that the then-81-year-old got "tired" and was prone to stumbles that showed his age.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tejasvi Manoj

Manoj, from Frisco, Texas, created an innovation called ‘Shield Seniors’, a website designed to help people over 60 identify and report fraudulent messages and emails. (Photo credit: LinkedIn/Tejasvi Manoj)

Indian-American teen Tejasvi Manoj named Time’s ‘Kid of the Year’ 2025

SEVENTEEN-year-old Indian-American Tejasvi Manoj has been named Time magazine’s ‘Kid of the Year’ for 2025 for her work on protecting senior citizens from online scams.

Manoj, from Frisco, Texas, created an innovation called ‘Shield Seniors’, a website designed to help people over 60 identify and report fraudulent messages and emails.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mark Rowley

Met chief Sir Mark Rowley (Photo: Getty Images)

Police watchdog calls for end to recording non-crime hate incidents

THE head of the police inspectorate has said that non-crime hate incidents should be scrapped, arguing that officers must draw a clear line between what is offensive and what is criminal.

Sir Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, made the comments as he released his annual report on the state of policing in England and Wales. He said that while much of the public expect officers to tackle serious crime and anti-social behaviour, too much time is being spent on matters that do not amount to criminality.

Keep ReadingShow less
 University of Kent

The Office for Students welcomed the move, saying more universities may look at mergers as many face financial difficulties. (Photo credit: University of Kent)

University of Kent

Kent and Greenwich to merge into UK’s first regional university group

THE UNIVERSITIES of Kent and Greenwich will merge in 2026 to form the UK’s first regional “super-university”.

The new institution, to be called the London and South East University Group, will have one vice-chancellor and around 50,000 students, the BBC reported.

Keep ReadingShow less