The Substitute Brain and the Potential of the Gel Model

This purpose of this paper is to review the recent history of the use of agarose gels. Although originally confined to electrophoresis work, agarose gels have proven themselves useful to a number of disciplines in the modern world, which includes brain infusion studies for research involving the treatment of various neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s Disease. In reviewing the relevant research leading up to the modern day, this paper attempts to track agarose gels through their stages of accuracy verification, highlighting why they are useful to the neurosurgery discipline and characterizing the nature of their use. Agarose gels do have significant limitations, which are also discussed, but they have substantial potential as a modifiable medium or as a basis of comparison for even more accurate models in the future.