Steerable Optical Fiber for Office-Based Laser Surgery of the Larynx: Design, Development, and Experimental Evaluation in a Phantom Model

This paper describes the design, development, and experimental evaluation of a novel steerable optical fiber for endoscopic laser surgery. The proposed device consists of an off-the shelf optical fiber installed into a flexible sheath (outer diameter: 1.6 mm) equipped with a custom distal steering mechanism. Thanks to its compact size, the proposed device can be easily deployed through the instrument channel of most commercially available clinical endoscopes. Among the procedures where we believe the new device could be beneficial, in this paper we focus on laser surgery of the larynx, i.e., the voice box. We report experimental findings, collected in in vitro models (additively-manufactured phantoms), demonstrating that the steerable fiber significantly expands surgical access, thus enabling physicians to address disease in locations that would normally be beyond reach.