For the first time,researchers at the University of Leeds’(West Yorkshire,UK; www.leeds.ac.uk) STORM Lab have demonstrated the successful use of dual magnetic soft robots for skull base surgery.

The team has been exploring ways to independently control two magnetic robots so they can collaborate within a limited area inside the human body.

The goal is for one robot to manage a camera and the other to operate a laser to remove tumors.

Composed of silicone to minimize tissue damage, these devices are maneuvered by magnets on robotic arms situated outside the patient’s body.

The team carried out a successful trial using a skull replica where two robots performed endonasal brain surgery-a technique where a surgeon accesses the front regions of the brain and the top of the spine through the nose.