News — SureFlex
All Holmium Laser Fibers are the Same, Right? Pt.4 -- Fiber Design Evolution
AccuFlex AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber dornier EndoBeam Flexiva Holmium Fiber Holmium Laser holmium laser fiber laser fiber Laser Lithotripsy Lasersafe litho laser Lumenis medilase medilase H20 OmniPulse Optifiber ProFlex ProFlex LLF quanta laser richard wolf Scopesafe Slimline stonelight SureFlex thulium laser fiber Trimedyne yellowstone
Part 4: Fiber Design Evolution -- the early days as reflected in today's products First and foremost, for differentiation among holmium laser fibers, is the issue of fiber dimensions. Frankly, I am astonished at the lack of clarity or standardization in identifying fiber sizes within this industry. Almost all “200 micron” fibers are actually much larger than 200 microns; not as egregiously large as described in some of the urological literature, where total fiber diameters are reported as opposed to the fiber core diameters used by manufacturers, but definitely misleading to the point where incredulity dominates. I’ll have more on fiber sizes in...
All Holmium Laser Fibers are the Same, Right? Part 3: Pulsar HPC Introduction
AccuFlex AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber calculase EndoBeam Fiber Flexiva Holmium Fiber Holmium Laser holmium laser fiber karl storz laser fiber Laser Lithotripsy Lasersafe litho laser medilase medilase H20 OmniPulse Optifiber ProFlex ProFlex LLF ProGlide quanta laser richard wolf Scopesafe SideLite Slimline stonelight SureFlex thulium laser Trimedyne yellowstone
Before updating this entry, a reader asked a question about a statement I'd made about the flexibility of the Boston Scientific holmium fibers AccuMax™ and Flexiva™ that I answered in the updated Part 2 entry. I am leaving my answer to that question in this entry, for congruity. Pardon the redundancy. Q: ‘How do you know Boston’s AccuMax™ and Flexiva™ are stiffer than ProFlex 200 if, as you say, you’ve never seen one of Boston’s fibers?’ A: Updated answer -- we measured the glass OD of the Boston fibers and, as expected, it is 290 microns (242 microns x 1.2 CCDR). This...
All Holmium Laser Fibers are the Same, Right? Part 1: An Introduction
AccuFlex AccuTrac ACMI laser fiber calculase dornier EndoBeam Flexiva Holmium Fiber holmium laser holmium laser fiber karl storz laser fiber Laser Lithotripsy Lasersafe litho laser Lumenis medilase medilase H20 OmniPulse Optifiber ProFlex LLF quanta laser richard wolf Scopesafe Slimline stonelight SureFlex Thulium thulium laser thulium laser fiber yellowstone
Stephen’s Law of Advancing Technology: Without a leader in innovation, product designs converge. Corollary to Stephen’s Law: Dollar-driven designs approach minimum acceptable performance. A tale of two fibers – it’s not the best quality; it’s not the worst quality (upper left -- connector with huge glue ring, steel tube, glass ferrule and the fiber in the very center; upper right -- close-up of fiber input; lower left -- close-up of working tip; lower right -- comet on output of working tip) While the above is not proof of “Stephen's Law”, it sure supports it. I’m Stephen. The photo series...
ProFlex LLF -- Advanced Technology for Holmium Laser Lithotripsy
Flexiva Holmium Fiber Laser Lithotripsy ProFlex ProFlex LLF SureFlex
InnovaQuartz developed the first quartz ferrule reinforced surgical fiber termination 20-years ago; we called it the Black Hole™ because it could capture and absorb even highly errant laser focus energy without damaging the laser or the connector. The holmium laser fiber product line came to be known as SureFlex™ for its unprecedented high tolerance to tight bending under power. InnovaQuartz was acquired by Laserscope in 2006 and then became part of American Medical Systems a month later when Laserscope was acquired. In 2012, the scientist who had designed and perfected SureFlex and AccuFlex™ (and founder of InnovaQuartz, Stephen Griffin) had...
What's Next in Fiber Optics for Urological Surgery?
AccuFlex Duotome Flexiva GreenLight Holmium Fiber Laser Lithotripsy ProFlex ProFlex LLF SideLite Slimline SureFlex
The fact that fiber optic technology for surgical lasers has steadily improved for two decades is largely due to InnovaQuartz' (IQ) research into fiber failure modes and strategies to overcome those weaknesses. Operating primarily in the background by providing unique solutions for established surgical laser companies, IQ has pushed back boundaries for the science of laser medicine in myriad fields, but none more authoritatively than Urological Surgery. Our patented products and proprietary technologies have blazed the path for others to follow -- We introduced the BlackHole™ High Power Connector in the 1990s and enabled GreenLight™ laser power to rise almost 5-fold starting in the late 1990s subsequently...