Surgeons working inside body cavities can tell you that it's dark in there. To help them and patients, engineers at LumitexMD, Strongsville, Ohio (lumitex.com) developed the LightMat Surgical illuminator. It's a 23-in. long flexible fiber-optic staff with a male ACMI connector on one end and two-inches of exposed fiber on the other end. When connected to a standard ACMI cable and a 300-W xenon light source, LightMat throws cool, bright, shadowless illumination from its two-inch tip.

The one-time-use device comes with a sterilized strip of two-sided adhesive, so nurses or staff can attach the device directly to a surgical retractor. Extra wraparound adhesives can be used in rugged (hip replacement) or oily (breast) surgeries. This lets surgeons insert the LightMat directly into the cavity and put light where they need it. Those who have used it say it helps minimize blood loss and keeps them aware of where they are in the body.