saying brain surgery is a delicate business would be an understatement. Cut a little bit more here and the patient might end up blind, deaf or perhaps even paralysed. So knowing what lies beneath the tissue surface could be a life-saver. But right now, the only way surgeons can do this is to look away from what they are doing on the operating table and examine the brain scans of the patient taken prior to the operation. But this, is about to change.

Very soon, brain surgeons will be able to operate with their confidence boosted by a new microscope imaging technique that will allow them to