Lucknow, Aug. 31 -- In a surgery where a fraction of a millimetre can make the difference between protecting and damaging the spinal cord, neurosurgeons at SGPGIMS have developed a safety device designed to make drilling around the delicate neural tissue safer.

The Spine Drilling Safety Device, developed and patented by Dr Ved Prakash Maurya, additional professor, Department of Neurosurgery, SGPGIMS, is designed specifically for surgery to remove a bony spur in children with Split Cord Malformation Type-1 (SCM-1), a rare congenital abnormality in which a bony structure divides the spinal cord.

The innovation addresses two critical risks during the procedure-heat generated by the surgical drill and accidental contact of the rotating dril...