Glioma patients typically need a biopsy so physicians can assess their isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status and make a treatment decision. Researchers have developed a new AI algorithm, however, that could make such biopsies unnecessary; the model simply reads a series of MRI scans and makes its assessment.

According to the team’s research, published in Neuro-Oncology, its AI model achieved an accuracy of more than 97%. Could this make pretreatment surgeries for gliomas a thing of the past?

“Knowing a particular mutation status in gliomas is important in determining prognosis and treatment strategies,” co-author Joseph Maldjian, MD, chief of neuroradiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center’s O’Donnell Brain Institute in Dallas, said in a news release. “The ability to determine this status using just conventional imaging and AI is a great leap forward.”