CIO develops a fiber based laser with feedback system which guarantees for extremely precise cuts of almost all shapes in minimal invasive surgery. This research is done within the MIRACLE II Project. One central part of this project is miniaturization: Several different devices need to be fitted into the tiny endoscope and be able to work on a radically restricted working space. Along with this aim for miniaturization comes the struggle for precision. Up to now, bone saws can only achieve medium precision, which is connected to relatively reduced implant stability and relatively longer recovery times.

CIO´s fiber laser will be able to detect the tissue in front of the tip and thus to immediately shut down in case there is no bone tissue left to cut. To achieve this, the system is needed as well to work as opto-acoustical and optical feedback system and an optical coherence tomography. Combined, these parts will be called Smart Laser Osteotome. This device will be part of a contrivance which is able to perform robot assisted laser bone cutting called MIRACLE (Minimally Invasive Robot-Assisted Computer-guided LaserosteotomE).

CIO forms part of two different groups of DBE: the flagship project MIRACLE, generously funded by Werner Siemens Stiftung, and the Focal Area Laser and Robotics. BLOG, the predecessor of CIO, was founded in 2016 by Azhar Zam and currently has two postdoctoral fellow and two PhD-students. Medical Advisors are Niklaus F. Friederich, Raphael Guzman, and Alexander Navarini.

All project listed below are be part of the MIRACLE-project which is devoted to the development of an integrated miniaturized system able to perform minimally invasive osteotomies (bone cuts) that are less stressful for the patients. The goal is to develop a laser osteotome in collaboration between the natural sciences and medicine that will broaden the range of surgical procedures and therapeutic treatment open to patients who are in a general poor state of health. In doing so, it is hoped to reduce the length of a stay in hospital and to reduce the time spent in rehabilitation. The technologies required to achieve this goal lie in the fields of laser physics, medical robotics, virtual planning and intraoperative navigation.