27/06/2006
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ChG Southampton Ltd, a spin out from the Optoelectronics Research Centre and based at the University's SETsquared Centre which aims to accelerate the development of new technology bases businesses, has been established to commercialise a new range of optical fibres and revolutionary glasses which are very different from those we see through everyday.
Optical fibres have changed the world and the way we communicate. Most notably, they have allowed the internet to expand and grow to every corner of the globe. There are however, many other applications of optical fibre and many different types of materials that can be drawn into these hair-thin threads. The glasses developed by the ORC transmit infrared light which cannot be transmitted by conventional optical fibre. It is these new glasses that the ChG will commercialise.
One of the most promising areas for the application of this infrared light is in medicine. Infrared radiation is readily absorbed by human tissue, making it ideal for laser surgery, where a laser beam of intense light replaces a surgeon's scalpel. The key requirement for laser surgery is an optical fibre which transmits this infrared light. This is the fibre that the ORC has developed and which ChG will use.
In collaboration with the team from King's, ChG Southampton Ltd is developing a laser scalpel that will destroy salivary duct stones. At present, these stones must be removed surgically which is expensive and difficult for the patient. An optical fibre solution to salivary stone removal would benefit patients considerably, reduce waiting times and save the NHS millions of pounds. To achieve this goal, ChG has been awarded a SMART grant for Research and Development from the Department of Trade and Industry. Following successful demonstration of the optical fibre device, the team at ChG plans to further exploit the device in other areas such as dermatology, dentistry and ophthalmology.
Notes to Editors
1. The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship. The University has around 20,000 students and nearly 5,000 staff. Its annual turnover is in the region of £270 million.
2. The Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton is one of the worlds best known photonics research laboratories. Together with its seminal and acclaimed work on telecommunications, the Centres research has now broadened to cover key areas of optical science and technology. Its activities are grouped around one of the largest clean-room complexes in Europe dedicated to the production of optical fibres and planar waveguides.
3. King's College London is one of the oldest and largest colleges of the University of London with 13,800 undergraduate students and some 5,400 postgraduates in ten schools of study. The College had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level. The recent Institutional Audit, carried out by the Quality Assurance Agency, received an excellent result.
Useful web sites for journalists:
Optoelectronic Research Centre, University of Southampton: www.orc.soton.ac.uk
ChG Southampton Ltd: www.chgsouthampton.com
Latest University news releases: www.soton.ac.uk/press/pressreleases/ University Media
ORC staff, now numbering over 150, make up the largest University-based research group in the European Union entirely devoted to optoelectronics.