Surgeon Uses DIY Drill to Perform Brain Operations

Ever since, I had brain scooped out a few years ago, I'm fascinated by how we've learned to manually adjust our hardware. My brain surgery cost about $50,000 (and I didn't have health insurance but that's another story) in the USA in 2003. Clearly, not everyone who needs lifesaving or altering neurological surgery has access to the expensive technology that is the norm here.

Inequities in healthcare services will always be a problem in the world. I'm optimistic that advances, creativity and education can make a significant difference but I'm not an idiot either. So I appreciate when doctors get creative to get services to the people whose need outstrips their resources.

Today's heroes, neurologists and handymen Henry Marsh of South London, and Igor Petrovich in Kiev:

In Britain Mr Marsh would use a £30,000 medical drill driven by compressed air. But equipment in the Ukrainian capital is so scarce that the men have been using a £30 Bosch RSR960 to drill holes through patients’ skulls.

Full Story