Transforming brain surgery by advancing functional-guided neuronavigational imaging

Introduction

In recent years, through the advancement of imaging technologies (such as MRI, PET, CT, among others), clinical localisation of lesions of the central nervous system (CNS) pre-surgery has made it possible for neurosurgeons to plan and navigate away from functional brain locations when removing tumours.

Challenges in Neuronavigation

However, neuronavigation in the surgical management of brain tumours remains a significant challenge due to the inability to maintain accurate spatial information of lesioned and non-lesioned locations intraoperatively.

Project Overview

To answer this challenge, we have put together a team of engineers, physicists, data scientists, and neurosurgeons to develop an innovative, all-optical intraoperative imaging system based on:

1. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) for rapid, multi-wavelength spectral acquisition.
2. Artificial intelligence (AI) for image reconstruction and molecular fingerprint recognition.

Features of HyperProbe

Our intraoperative HSI system (HyperProbe) will:

1. Map, monitor, and quantify biomolecules of interest.
2. Be handheld and user-friendly.
3. Apply AI-based methods for:
   • The reconstruction of spectral images.
   • The analysis of spatio-spectral data.
   • The development and quantification of novel biomarkers.

Validation Process

We will validate the developed capacity in:

1. Phantoms.
2. In vivo against gold standard modalities in neuronavigational imaging.
3. Finally, provide proof-of-principle during brain tumour surgery.

Conclusion

HyperProbe aims at providing functional and structural information on biomarkers of interest that is currently missing during neuro-oncological interventions.