Artificial intelligence is helping Floridians with brain tumors. Here's how

TAMPA, Fla. -- Dr. Brian Collins was completing his medical residency at Georgetown University in the early 2000s when the institution invested in a new and groundbreaking technology that would shape the course of his career. The system was called CyberKnife.

Developed at Stanford University three decades ago, the CyberKnife System is one of the earliest adoptions of artificial intelligence in medicine, Collins said. It's a specialized and effective way to treat challenging tumors - like those in the brain.

Today, Collins is a radiation oncologist and one of the world's leading experts in CyberKnife treatments. That drew the attention of researchers at Tampa General Hospital and USF Health, who recruited Collins from D.C. to Florida's Gulf Coast in 2022. He started the hospital's CyberKnife program in 2024.

Here's how it works, and what the system means for patients around Tampa Bay.

Why it matters

When tumors form in the brain, surgeons face a daunting task in the operating room.

The growths are often entrapped in clusters of arteries and nerves that control a person's ability to see, hear, move and breathe. Error can result in paralysis and death.

The operations are risky. But CyberKnife helps minimize the likelihood that something will go wrong. Using the machine, doctors like Collins can zap away bits of tumor using highly targeted radiation after surgery. That means surgeons can be more conservative when making cuts - they can leave remnants of tumors behind.

That was the case for Mallory McLean, who learned she had a brain tumor while pregnant last year. McLean, who underwent surgery a week after giving birth, had a tumor the size of a golf ball growing near her brain stem.

In an hours long operation, doctors were able to remove around 93% of the mass. But the remaining 7% lingered dangerously close to her body's essential wirings.

That's where CyberKnife comes in.

How it works

Radiation can be used to treat cancerous and noncancerous tumors by exposing the abnormal cells to beams of high energy that kill them. The trouble is, radiation kills healthy cells, too.

Exposing areas of the brain to high doses of radiation could come with its own negative side effects. But the CyberKnife system has made it possible to target fragments of abnormal cells while sparing healthy tissue.

First, doctors like Collins take images of a patient's brain and plug them into a computer. Once they distinguish the healthy tissue from the unhealthy, telling the computer which areas to target, it forms a sophisticated plan.

Artificial intelligence is able to map the brain, or another part of the body, to find the best path to the tumor cells. When the tumor is hit from different, highly calculated angles, the unhealthy tissue is exposed over and over again, while healthy tissue avoids the repeated exposure.

AndCyberKnife eliminates the higher risk of injury or error if a surgeon were to attempt it by hand.

"It does it independently, and it does it better than any human can deliver radiation," Collins said.

Because of the degree of accuracy, this type of therapy can be used to treat a broader range of patients than those who were treated by radiation in the past. And, Collins said, the procedure is far less invasive. Previously, radiation oncologists would have to still patients using heavy frames that were screwed into their skulls to prevent movement.

Because the treatment is noninvasive, it can be administered over several sessions. That lessens the side effects and protects the brain stem and facial nerve from damage.

A robotic remedy

Outside of brain tumors, the system can be used to treat lung tumors and those in the spine. More recently, researchers have studied CyberKnife and its effectiveness in treating neurologic conditions like tremors, and mental health conditions like depression and obsessive compulsive disorder.

But its primary use, Collins said, is treating brain tumors because of its precision.

For patients with small tumors, CyberKnife treatment can sometimes spare them from surgery altogether, clearing the growth on its own.

For others, like McLean, CyberKnife is the final step toward recovery. She underwent five sessions - each between 15 and 20 minutes - in the months after her surgery.

Now, her tumor is gone.

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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 1:17 AM.