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MIRSURG is a three-year collaborative project funded by the European Union within its 7th Framework Programme.
The project duration has been extended and MIRSURG will be active until 01 December 2011.

The acronym MIRSURG comes from Mid-Infrared Solid-State Laser Systems for Minimally Invasive Surgery.

The MIRSURG project, comprising researchers from 9 European institutes and companies, is focused on development of a laser source that will enable minimally invasive neurosurgery. The laser should emit at a wavelength near 6.45 µm and provide high single pulse energy and average power. The penetration depth at this wavelength will be comparable to the cell size (several micrometers), which will make it possible to avoid collateral damage when ablating the tissue.

Earlier tests carried out in the USA with free electron lasers (FELs) have proved that brain surgery performed at a wavelength of 6.45 µm leads to good results. Such lasers generate coherent radiation with very high brilliancy. For applications in biomedicine however, FELs are not practical since they are coupled to huge and expensive accelerators. Therefore, it is important to develop new technologies to replace the FELs with table-top solid-state photonic sources. The main strategy is to exploit nonlinear optical techniques (OPO) in combination with novel near-IR laser pump sources (near 1 and 2 µm) and new materials (e.g. orientation patterned GaAs) to obtain an unprecedented energy level (10 mJ) near 6.45 µm at a repetition rate of 100 Hz (an average power of 1 W). The systems will provide improved control and higher accuracy for treatment and prevention either at individual cell level or cellular structures depending on the pulse shapes utilized.

The main objective of MIRSURG is to develop advanced table-top solid-state photonic sources for a specific wavelength in the mid-IR spectral range, as a practical, reliable and cost effective alternative to large scale FELs, for an important application in biomedicine (health): minimally invasive surgery. The project is coordinated by Valentin Petrov of the Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy in Berlin, Germany. On this site you will find the Project description including the Objectives and the Structure of the consortium, information on the Partners with links, a complete bibliography including Press Releases for the general public and gate io for the experts, as well as information on the organised Events.

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