Researchers from Houston Methodist and the University of Cambridge have developed a flexible device that wraps around the spinal cord and can simultaneously interpret multiple signals related to movement, sensation and internal body functions. The research demonstrates that a single device may be capable of restoring lost functions after spinal cord injury.

Researchers from the UT and Radboudumc have steered a tiny screw-shaped robot through real brain tissue, controlled only by a magnet outside the body. The test used sheep brain tissue in the lab. The team built a model that predicts exactly when such a robot loses control, a step towards treating stroke and tumors deep in the brain without open surgery. The study is published in the journal Advanced Science.

For patients facing a diagnosis of glioblastoma—one of the most aggressive and devastating forms of brain cancer—the standard path forward has long meant invasive open-skull surgery and a daunting prognosis.