Science for tomorrow's neurosurgery: Patient & Public Involvement (PPI) group - September 2023 group meeting

On 21st September we held our fourth ‘Science for Tomorrow’s Neurosurgery’ PPI group meeting online, with presentations from Oscar, Matt and Silvère. Presentations focused on an update from the NeuroHSI trial, with clear demonstration of improvements in resolution of the HSI images we are now able to acquire; this prompted real praise from our patient representatives, which is extremely reassuring for the trial going forward. We also took this opportunity to announce the completion of the first phase of NeuroPPEYE, in which we aim to use HSI to quantify tumour fluorescence beyond that which the human eye can see. Discussions were centered around the theme of “what is an acceptable number of participants for proof of concept studies,” generating very interesting points of view that ultimately concluded that there was no “hard number” from the patient perspective, as long as a thorough assessment of the technology had been carried out. This is extremely helpful in how we progress with the trials, particularly NeuroPPEYE, which will begin recruitment for its second phase shortly. Once again, the themes and discussions were summarized in picture format by our phenomenal illustrator, Jenny Leonard (see below) and we are already making plans for our next meeting in February 2024!

If you have been diagnosed with, or treated for a brain tumour and would be interested in helping to guide cutting edge research in neurosurgery and AI please contact the NeuroHSI team or NeuroPPEye team to enquire about space in the Science for Tomorrow’s Neurosurgery PPI group.

To learn more about the project, please visit our neurohsi.uk and neuroppeye.uk pages.