http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23348661

Very clever. If this reduces surgery time and chance of being readmitted then it could pay for itself very rapidly. I wonder if the same technique can be used for other operations and diseases?

I stopped reading at iKnife.

All that means is that Samsung will copy it.

And this is version 1.0, or even a beta. This is incredible. The news last night showed it, and said that it could be used to provide more instant results for biopsies, even when the patient is present (probing the colon for badness was the example given).

I have heard of other ideas for avoiding cutting away healthy tissue, or going outside of an expected area by using robotic knives that start to resist if you are going too far. I would expect v 2.0 of this would be far more accurate and may even be computer aided rather than just relying in a human hand to guide it.

It's very easy to miss out one or two cancer cells which then proliferate. I don't know how effective it will be at just one or two cells.

While it might not be able to pick up every single cell, it might be very handy with biopsies, giving an on the spot results, which might be good for patients if they can be given the all clear straight away.