Intracranial robot prototype

There are three stories here about new neurosurgical techniques aimed at treating one of the deadliest cancers, glioblastomas.  Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a “minimally invasive neurosurgical robot” that allows a piece of memory shape wire to be inserted into a brain tumor and do the electrocauterizing from the inside out.  Adding to the possibilities of a minimally invasive robot, scientists at the University of Washington have developed an single optical fiber endoscope and a “paint,” derived from scorpion venom, that make brain tumors easier to see.  Among the implications of these minimally invasive tools is that, one day in a foreseeable future, even major brain surgery could be handled as an outpatient procedure.  MORE

Image Credit:  University of Maryland and NIBIB.nih.gov