clipped from: www.canada.com   

CALGARY - Calgary doctors have made surgical history, using a robot to remove a brain tumour from a 21-year-old woman.

Doctors used remote controls and an imaging screen, similar to a video game, to guide the two-armed robot through Paige Nickason's brain during the nine-hour surgery Monday.

Surgical instruments acting as the hands of the robot -called NeuroArm - provided surgeons with the tools needed to successfully remove the egg-shaped tumour.

This is the first time a robot has performed surgery of this kind,
"Paige's brain surgery represents a technical achievement in the use of image-guided robotic technology to remove a relatively complex brain tumour,"

NeuroArm has the distinct advantage of being able to move in smaller increments than a surgeon's hand, Sutherland said.

Typically, the human hand can steady itself and move in increments of one or two millimetres. NeuroArm can move in increments of 50 microns.