Lighting the Way: BelSU’s Illuminated Instruments Treat 1,000 Patients

Led by Professor Sergei Kolesnikov of the Department of Faculty Surgery at the Medical Institute of Belgorod National Research University (BelSU), the team designed multifunctional retractors that simultaneously move organs safely and illuminate the surgical field. Traditional ceiling and floor-mounted lights, as Professor Kolesnikov notes, were invented “even before Yuri Gagarin's flight into space” and often fail to reach deep surgical sites.

The new instruments are fully import-substituting. Imported retractors with fiber-optic illumination are expensive and difficult to repair due to supply chain disruptions. The BelSU version costs ten times less. All wires, LED capsules, and connectors are hermetically sealed within a monolithic housing, creating a completely smooth surface that protects both patient tissue and the instrument itself. Power consumption is comparable to a pocket flashlight.

The portfolio now includes seven state patents held by Professor Kolesnikov and young surgeons Vitaly Bugaev, Sofia Bugaeva, and Alexander Semenov.

Their latest innovation is a plastic retractor that is flexible, hingeless, ergonomic, virtually weightless, and easily sterilizable. The developers see particular potential for emergency and field settings, where power outages are possible and conditions for high quality reprocessing of reusable instruments are unavailable.

The instruments are not tied to wall outlets – they can run on mains or battery power. Available in two sizes, the smaller plastic retractor suits thoracic, abdominal, extremity, and superficial tissue procedures alike.

The innovation is already in clinical use. Nearly one thousand patients in Belgorod and the surrounding region have received care using these instruments, with orders now coming from Moscow, Kursk, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and beyond.

Aleksandr Kozhan, head of the partner company that manufactured the prototypes, acknowledges the next step: “We manufactured a limited-edition prototype to prove this is not a figment of scientific imagination, but a genuine innovative development. Now we need to move from individual prototypes to a series that can meet the needs of Russian surgeons.”

The team continues to expand its product line, with new illuminated instruments for gynaecology and proctology already in development.