A Wriggly Worm Wriggling in your Behind
“ Scientists are developing a new way of carrying out internal examinations on patients – based on a wriggling worm.
In an endoscopy, a long flexible tube is fed into the body. It can be very uncomfortable.
But a team from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, found the ragworm, which lives in seashores, could offer a model for a more comfortable test.
They say their device would be able to “pull” itself along, rather than having to be forced into the body.
The team have developed a prototype device, named the Bioloch Ist, which imitates the undulating motion of the ragworm, also known as the paddleworm.”
This is interesting, but it still bothers me a little.
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Alice December 28, 2004 at 3:03 pm
ARGGGGHHHHHH! Bothers you a little? Ewwwww.
Stacey December 28, 2004 at 2:16 pm
How fascinating to look to nature and this specific type of worm as a model to improve medical technology. Endoscopies are no big deal, but if they can be improved upon — maybe those hesitant to get them will change their mind.