Kevin Bullis of TechnologyReview.com writes:

High-powered lasers, snaked through the body inside thin optical fibers, can quickly and precisely burn off tumors lining the esophagus, intestines, or bronchial tubes. But there’s a risk: if the fiber walls fail, the laser light beam can escape and harm healthy tissue.

Now MIT researcher Yoel Fink, associate professor of materials science, has devised optical fibers that are wired with their own heat-sensitive electronics, which can be used to monitor developing defects while the laser is in use - in time to shut it down before a failure.

[Continue reading Optical fibers with embedded semiconductor circuits could save lives in surgery]

[tags]laser,optical fibers,tumor,medical,kevin bullis[/tags]