Decision Support Systems in Neurosurgery: Current Applications and Future Directions

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the fastest-developing research fields. Its methods are applied with great success to various problems across many industries. Healthcare is one of them, with AI applied to organizational problems, textual data analysis, and treatment decision support systems used for diagnosis and treatment. This paper reviews current AI methods in neurosurgery settings, discussing the potential use of decision support systems. As neurosurgery is highly technical and requires millimeter-precise guidance, AI systems can provide significant benefits in helping neurosurgeons navigate the surgical field. For example, AI-assisted neuronavigation during deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgeries shortens the length of the procedure and significantly reduces the risk of electrode misplacement, and the need for future costly re-operation. We do not limit our review to existing methods, as we also discuss possible future directions for such systems. When developing such methods, special emphasis must be put on precision, usability, security, and explainability.