A robotic thread capable of snaking its way through blood vessels in the brain has been developed to prevent brain damage in stroke victims.

The remote-controlled magnetic device could be guided through the brain’s labyrinthine structure to break down blood clots and deliver life-saving drugs, scientists have said.

People who suffer a stroke usually have only a short window of time - approximately one or two hours - in which treatment to prevent permanent brain damage or even save their life is most effective.

Currently, surgeons must manually insert a thin wire through the patient's leg or groin and guide it up to the brain.

It is a potentially dangerous procedure for which too few surgeons are sufficiently trained, and it also exposes the doctor to high amounts of radiation from the x-rays which map the blood vessels for them.

By contrast, the new robotic thread can be controlled via a computer operated from behind a protective screen, or indeed from a different location altogether.

The device has been successfully trialled in a silicone replica of the brain by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Professor Xuanhe Zhao, one of the team, said: “If acute stroke can be treated within the first 90 minutes or so, patients' survival rates could increase significantly,"