Decision Support and Workflow Integration for Intraoperative Guidance in Neurosurgery

Intraoperative guidance has become central to modern neurosurgical practice, combining neuronavigation, intraoperative imaging, neuromonitoring, and increasingly, computational decision-support tools to help surgeons operate with greater precision and safety. Technologies such as intraoperative MRI and ultrasound, augmented reality overlays, fluorescence-guided resection, and real-time neurophysiological monitoring each generate a large amount of information during surgery. Yet these systems often function as isolated data streams rather than as a coherent decision-support environment, and translating multimodal intraoperative data into timely, actionable and reliable guidance remains a significant technical and clinical challenge.This Research Topic focuses on how intraoperative information — from imaging, monitoring, and computational models — can be integrated into surgical decision-making and workflow in practice, not only in principle. It welcomes works on the design and validation of decision-support systems, tools or strategies, the human factors and cognitive load involved in using them intraoperatively, and the practical barriers to embedding these tools into existing operating room workflows. Comparative and translational studies that assess how such systems affect surgical decisions, efficiency, and patient outcomes are particularly encouraged, as are methodological contributions addressing data integration, latency, interoperability, and validation standards.We welcome original research, reviews, and clinical perspectives on themes including, but not limited to:• Integration of neuronavigation, intraoperative imaging, and neuromonitoring data into unified decision-support platforms• Artificial intelligence and machine learning models for real-time surgical guidance and risk prediction• Augmented and mixed reality applications for intraoperative visualization and decision support• Human factors, cognitive workload, and usability of intraoperative decision-support tools• Workflow and process integration of decision-support systems into existing neurosurgical operating environments• Validation frameworks and clinical evidence standards for intraoperative decision-support technologies• Robotics and automation in neurosurgical procedures• Data interoperability, latency, and infrastructure challenges in multimodal intraoperative systems• Impact of decision-support integration on surgical efficiency, complication rates, and patient outcomes• Barriers and facilitators to clinical adoption of intraoperative guidance technologies Topic editors: Edoardo Mazzucchi, Giovanni Sabatino, Andrei Brinzeu Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85848/decision-support-and-workflow-integration-for-intraoperative-guidance-in-neurosurgery