Surgery

A first-of-its-kind operation that proves a modified animal heart can function just like a human heart without the body rejecting it.

The babies have spina bifida, a condition which prevents the spine and spinal cord developing properly.

The mini organs, grown from the patient's own tissue, could one day lead to personalised transplants.

It could boost liver transplant numbers in the future and reduce NHS waiting lists.

Neurosurgeon Dr Rahul Jandial recounts the story of the first time he operated on a brain in this extract from Life Lessons from a Brain Surgeon.

This method would mean transplant patients wouldn't have to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their lives.

New technology allows users to have greater control and precision when using prosthetic hands.

The new expanding device, which has been tested in sheep, could allow children to keep the same prosthetic valve until adulthood, researchers say.

Ground-breaking technique involves rapidly cooling the brain down to 10-15°C.

The implants could potentially include a direct connection to the brain.

Scientists have used tiny layers of Manuka honey in surgical mesh to fight post-operative infections which cause hospital re-admissions.

What are the ethics behind monitoring someone’s every thought, deed and emotion?

Scientists found that while vaginally born babies got most of their gut bacteria – microbiome – from their mother, babies born via caesarean did not.

The flexible robot was designed by researchers at MIT to slide through the brain’s blood vessels without getting stuck.

The dream of 3D-printing whole, living human hearts for life-saving transplants just got a little closer.

Gentle music could replace intravenous sedatives to relax anxious patients.

We all know that hypothermia can kill – but increasingly, it’s also being used to save lives.

The new technique uses electric currents to reshape tissue with no incisions.

X-ray images will soon be more detailed than ever before.

Dr Benjamin Dann of the German Primate Center explains how it might help humans.

BBC Two’s gruesome comedy about Victorian doctors is sure to leave you feeling squeamish, but real-life 19th century surgery will have you squirming.

Sue Black, Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee, tells us what it was like to begin her journey into unlocking the secrets of the dead, making her first incision into a cadaver.