Laser Surgery

A new tool that allows doctors to use laser surgery in complex operations named “Omni directional dielectric mirror" was created by Professor Fink in 1995.

ODD mirror is also an important development in fiber optic tool in minimally invasive surgery; until the "ODD mirror" came along there were no fibers that could transport the safer CO2 lasers. Surgeons had to shoot the laser beam directly from its large generator and could do so only at a straight angle, rendering it impossible to reach deeper tissues; for years, doctors were able to treat patients with lasers in only limited circumstances and with many complications.

In a recent case, a patient had a tumor at the base of the brain, a tumor that could not have been previously reached without ODD mirror. Using a scalpel to cut off the tumor would also have been dangerous as the patient's tumor was attached to an important vein. Using the scalpel could have caused a stroke, instead doctor used CO2 laser to melt the tumor and then shave it off.

By taking two materials with different optical properties (one being a semi-conducting glass and one being a polymer) and stacking these two up in very tight and ultra thin layers, around 1 micron each (1/1000 of a millimeter), they create an omni-reflector. By changing only the thickness and distance of the layers, “ODD mirror" could reflect any type of electromagnetic energy in any wavelength, there by enable surgeon to easily manipulate the use of lasers rather than scalpels to operate on everything from tumors, deafness and spine injuries in hard to reach angle and almost every tissues in the body during complex surgery with minimum invasive technique. This type of surgery is known to reduce recovery time, the likelihood of complications and incision size. In many cases, patients also spend less time "under the knife."