IMX Colloquium - Advancing Surgery with Multi-material Fibers: From Laser Fibers to Fiber Robots

At the beginning of the new millennium, a polymer sheet coated with a chalcogenide glass, rolled around a sacrificial mandrel and drawn into a fibre, presented a number of novelties: A new way of guiding light, a waveguide not limited by its materials’ optical properties and hence having the ability to transmit light at any chosen wavelength, nanometre scale control of features and geometries at kilometre length scales, and last but not least, first steps of the field of multimaterial fibres that changed the way we think about fibres. The resulting fibre found its immediate application in the medical field and served about half a million patients up to date in various surgical specialities as a precise optical scalpel, enabling high-precision removal of cancer.
With the enriched choice of materials and the development of manufacturing technologies, we have focused on exploring further the potential contribution of multimaterial fibres to medicine. Together with clinicians, scientists, and engineers, we are investigating the therapeutic, diagnostic, and robotic applications of these materials to enhance our understanding and treatment of cancer, utilising the potential of integrating and miniaturising various functions on a single fibre.

Bio: Dr Temelkuran received his MS (1996) and PhD (2000) degrees from the Department of Physics at Bilkent University, Turkey. As a postdoctoral researcher at MIT (2000-2002), Dr Temelkuran has contributed to the discovery of the 1D omnidirectional reflecting fibre. His research led to a number of foundational publications that pioneered the field of multi-material fibres. He led the technology transfer process of this fibre to a start-up company, and he was actively present at every step of the translation of his invention from the laboratory to operating theatres. His invention has been used in over 500,000 laser surgeries to date, mostly helping cancer patients.
Dr Temelkuran joined the Hamlyn Centre in 2016 and has been a lecturer in the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction since 2021. Dr Temelkuran’s team focuses on the medical application of multi-material fibres: Functional fibres for minimally invasive interventions, fibre robots, fibre sensors, laser delivery mechanisms, laser-tissue interactions of surgical lasers, and their therapeutic and diagnostic applications. His research targets unmet needs in medicine, with his expertise in the field of multi-material fibres and his 15 years of experience in the medical industry bridging engineering and medical sciences.