ISRAELI INNOVATION

Israeli team develops GPS accuracy for keyhole neurosurgery using mini-robot (Israel21c)
By Sharon Kanon (Hat tip: Atlas Shrugs)
A tiny robot shimmies into position on the skull and reaches out its arm to automatically target the best spot for keyhole neurosurgery. It may sound like science fiction, or the latest animated feature by Dream Works, but it's actually an Israeli-developed mini-robot prototype that is likely to have a major impact on the way keyhole neurosurgery is done in the near future.

Keyhole neurosurgery, a minimally invasive procedure, is used for tumor biopsies, deep brain stimulation, to insert a draining tube to treat hematomas, and for catheter insertion. Increasingly, it will be used for tissue, tumor, and DNA sampling, which cannot be performed using anatomical imaging. Its advantage - that the surgery can be done with only a keyhole (3-30 mm diameter) opening in the skull - comes with a price. A slip in a surgical gesture is a surgery hazard.