Why Brain Surgeons Want Help From A Maggot-Like Robot

Why Brain Surgeons Want Help From A Maggot-Like Robot
Brain surgery is a dicey business. Even the most experienced surgeons can damage healthy tissue while trying to root out tumors deep inside the brain.

Researchers from the University of Maryland are working on a solution, and it sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. They’re developing a tiny, maggot-like robot that can crawl into brains and zap tumors from within.

The idea first came to , a neurosurgeon and professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, while he was watching TV.

He saw plastic surgeons use sterile maggots to remove damaged tissue from a patient. “It sounds strange, but it’s a real thing,” Simard says. And that’s when he had the idea. “If I could train maggots to resect brain tumors I would,” he says. “I can’t do that, so robotic maggots are the next best thing.”

Read more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/09/27/226837903/why-brain-surgeons-want-help-from-a-maggot-like-robot?ft=1&f=1007