A prospective observational study to evaluate the use of an intraoperative hyperspectral imaging system in neurosurgery

The proposed research question is to establish a correlation between hyperspectral data obtained from in-vivo human brain tumour and histopathological biopsy information as well as establishing a correlation between tissue oxygenation maps obtained using hyperspectral imaging and temporal ischaemia established during vascular neurosurgical procedures, all using a novel intra-operative hyperspectral imaging system. The study is NIHR funded (i4i) and will be observational and prospective, with post-hoc data analysis. 81 patients will be recruited in total (63 neuro-oncology patients and 18 neuro-vascular patients), screened via the multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting and recruited via the respective neurosurgical clinic. The study will obtain data only and this will not be visible to the surgeon performing the operation and will not guide the surgeon in any way. The data will be reviewed post-hoc and, where indicated, correlated with existing imaging (CT, MRI) and histopathological data in order to establish these correlations. This study will be divided into two phases - phase one incorporating 9 patients in total (3 tumours, 3 arteriovenous malformations (AVM) and 3 aneurysms). The data will then be analysed, along with qualitative feedback obtained from the theatre staff via a questionnaire) and any required system improvements made before commencing phase 2, where the remainder of the data will be collected.