Patients with a glioma, a type of malignant brain tumor, can suffer from cognitive problems after surgery. However, the true effect of surgery on complex cognitive tasks is not known. To predict the effects of surgery on cognitive tasks, Ph.D. Researcher Lars Smolders Developed an ai model that utilizes information about neural connections in the brain extracted from the patient’s mRI Images Before Surgery.

The removal of a malignant brain tumor or glioma can extend a patient’s life by many years depending on the type of glioma. However, it can also mark the start of another Difential Health Journey.

“Many PATITES SUFFER SUFER SUFER COM CONS TRUN COTH COMSENTRATION and Performing Complex Tasks, after their Brain Tumor has been removed,” Says smoles in the resurrection of mathemat Puter Science Who Defended His Ph.D. Thesis on January 7.

“These issues lead to major problems in the daily lives of treated patients, severely reduction their quality of life,” Smolders notes.

“While Neurological Problems Such as Partial Paralysis and Loss of Vision Are Well Understood, The Effect of Surgery on More Complex Cognitive Functions is Not Well Known, and IT IT IS DIFICULTET And how individual patients are affected by surgery. “

Ai model

To help predict how a patient with a malignant brain tumor performs cognitive tasks after surgery, smolders and his collaborators developed an ai model.

The brain depends critically on Neurons Forming Long-DISTANCE Bundles of So-Called White Matter that physically interconnect regions of the brain.

“As input data for the model, we isolated key structural details from large so-called white-matter connections in the brain that are visible in MRIMages of the Brain Taken Before Surgey,” “We used these to examine how resistant Each Patient’s Brain is to Damage caused by treatment to remove or eliminate the tumor.”

Previous, Predicting Cognitive Outcomes After Treatment was almost Impossible, even thought these outse outse outs are very important for a patient’s daily.

The information produced by Smolders’ model could be used by surgeons in the future to assess a patient’s suitability for surgery, potentially sparing vulnerable patients from irreversible neurological disabilities. However, the approach needs to be clinically validated on a large patient first.

The road to the ai model was an interesting one to say the least, as smolders highlights. “The location of brain damage is often used to predict the type of neurological problems relateds will make suffer from, but we found that location of a brain tumor barely helpsting the predicting theSE

Consequently, The Researcher had to develop new methods. “This made me realize that function of the brain is even more complicated than I first thought, and that a lot of work will be required to achieve the desire the desired goal of reliably Ents. “

Eventually, smolders managed to develop a predictive model that reasonibly predicts where a patient a patient a patient from cognitive problems after treatment. “This model is based on properties of white matter connections in patient’s brains before surgery. To me, it is fascinating Emo- and radiotherapy) based only on MRI Images. “

Old Methods Don’T Work

During his ph.d. Research, smolders followed a path that combined mathematics, algorithms, neuroscience, and ai. However, at the very start of the project, he and his collaborators noted something puzzling and worrying.

“At the start of the research, we applied Several Establed Methods from the Network Neuroscience Literature to Study Patints with A Brain Tumor to Predict White Cognitive Problems in TheSe For the Patient group in this study, these methods just didn ‘ T work. “

For example, many established algorithms explred by smolders to study mri images of the brain fail when analyzing brains with large number definitions, which occur in the presence of tumors.

“We also found that existing literature dedicated to study healthy brains drew faulty conclusions about of the faulty conclusions made by researchers in the past , “Says smolders.

Given that smolders have been traveling on a trajectory in technical topics for much of his career, you would assume that he has an implicit affinity with these topics. Well, during his ph.d. Exploits, Smolders Learned Something New About Himself.

“I discovered that I like doing science more than I Expected. In the Mathematics and Computer Science Master’s at Tu/E, You are educated more like an engineer than a scientist. Eurosurgeons for My Ph.D., I Learned More About Conducting Fundamental Scientific Research and Great Enjoyed Combining My Skills to Develop New Mathematical Methods with Neuroscienttifies Research. “

In addition, smolders’ view of the brain changed over the course of his project. “The brain is a complex system that Produces Complex Behavior, Which Should Eventutically Be Explainable Through Mathematical Models. CTioning of the brain, and brain tumor patients give us a Unique lens through which to view the brain. “

In the future, smolders and his colleagues would like to integrate the activity of the individual patient brain into their predictive model to improve model accuracy.

A more accurate model could significantly reduce the risk of neurological impairments after surgery and improve the lives of brain tumor patients after treatment.

Smolders Hopes to Carry out this work as a postdoctoral researcher, and he’s co-written a proposal as he seeks funding for the position.

“If the Funding Application is successful, it would continue the existing collaboration between tu/e and the neurosurgery department of the elisabeth-tweeted hostal in tilburg, from with a lot and see Expect will lead to meaningful breakthroughs for the future of health care. And i want to be there for that breakthroughs too. “