--- title: "Back to the Future: From Telesurgery to Translational Tools" description: Exploring the advancements in telesurgery and fluorescence-guided surgery, and how QUEL Imaging accelerates clinical translation with innovative tools and solutions. image: https://blog.quelimaging.com/hubfs/Phantoms-2016.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://blog.quelimaging.com/back-to-the-future#main-content) [![QUEL_web_logo-1](https://blog.quelimaging.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUEL_web_logo-1.png?width=320&height=120&name=QUEL_web_logo-1.png)](https://shop.quelimaging.com/) - [Home](https://www.quelimaging.com/) - [Products](https://shop.quelimaging.com/) - [Blog](https://blog.quelimaging.com/) - [News](https://www.quelimaging.com/news) - [About](https://www.quelimaging.com/about) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Home](https://www.quelimaging.com/) - [Products](https://shop.quelimaging.com/) - [Blog](https://blog.quelimaging.com/) - [News](https://www.quelimaging.com/news) - [About](https://www.quelimaging.com/about) - [Contact us](https://share.hsforms.com/1qlwaYoKVQvGnvWZt0GNGagcxyzv) [Contact us](https://share.hsforms.com/1qlwaYoKVQvGnvWZt0GNGagcxyzv) ### View of Field Jun 27, 2025 6:05:27 AM # Back to the Future: From Telesurgery to Translational Tools ![Picture of Ethan LaRochelle](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/925081a77283a399dbd145b49b251212) [Ethan LaRochelle](https://blog.quelimaging.com/author/ethan) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.quelimaging.com/back-to-the-future) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.quelimaging.com/back-to-the-future) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://blog.quelimaging.com/back-to-the-future) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://blog.quelimaging.com/back-to-the-future) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://blog.quelimaging.com/back-to-the-future) After a week at the [Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics](https://www.hamlynsymposium.org/programme-2025/), I’ve been reflecting on this year’s theme: “Back to the Future: Telesurgery in 2025.” The first telesurgery took place on September 7, 2001, between New York and Strasbourg, France — using a robotic system that would later evolve under Intuitive Surgical. For over two decades, telesurgery remained more concept than reality. *Until this month.* In June 2025, the first FDA-approved telesurgery was successfully performed between Florida and Luanda, Angola. The tech has matured — and so have the use cases. I’ll admit I arrived a skeptic: surgeons are already overloaded, and remote cases add new complexity. But after this week at Imperial College, I see the future more clearly. Telesurgery’s near-term value is especially strong for training, supervision, and specialist support in regions where care gaps persist. ## Fluorescence-Guided Surgery Is on the Same Curve The trajectory feels familiar. When I entered university in 2005, fluorescence-guided surgery had just received its first FDA clearance. Since 2021, new agents have been approved, and imaging systems are evolving across form factors — from handhelds to robotic platforms. At [QUEL Imaging](https://www.quelimaging.com/about), we’re focused on accelerating this clinical translation. We *<3* fluorescence, but *<3* speeding up its adoption even more. | ![Phantoms-2016](https://blog.quelimaging.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Phantoms-2016.jpg?width=702&height=988&name=Phantoms-2016.jpg) | | --- | | ***2016 - 6-months into my PhD.*** ✔️Gloves. ✔️Lab coat, ✔️safety glasses, ✔️Pipet, ✔️Huge graduated cylinder, ✔️Glass beaker,✔️(labeled and covered) Falcon tubes, ✔️Print-out of Python code for weights and volumes, ✔️IV bag of Intralipid, ✔️Selfie to proof  | ## A Phantom Flashback and a 3-Minute Fix At the begining of my PhD (coming from working in software development and telecom industry for the previous 5 years), I was tasked with testing a fluorescence imaging system. The instruction: “Make a serial dilution phantom.” I Googled every term: - **Phantoms**: Tissue stand-ins - **PpIX**: Fluorophore (powder I need to mix in liquid) used for tumor detection - **Intralipid**: Light-scattering fat emulsion, *in an IV bag* - **Bovine** and **Porcine** blood: Why not just say cow or pig? (And, kind of gross. Also, this is available in a catalog? 🤯) - **Pipetting**: Let’s just say my technique was… not ideal I wrote Python scripts to calculate the dilution volumes, suited up in (too-much) PPE, and spent hours mixing and imaging. It was not fun. It was not fast. I repeated it (begrudgingly) throughout grad school. *Back to the Future* Today, QUEL Imaging manufactures solid [Concentration Targets](https://shop.quelimaging.com/product-category/active/characterization/concentration/) that replicate [common clinical fluorophores](https://shop.quelimaging.com/Fluorescence-targets/) like ICG, pafolacianine, IRDye 800CW, SGM-101, and Cy5.5 — with consistent optical properties and no mess. Last week, we asked Edwin, our optical engineer, to use a concentration target to simulate a serial dilution on one of our systems. *⏱ Total time: under 3 minutes — from measurement to data!* *<3 Fluorescence. <3 Speed. <3 Not cleaning expired (chunky) phantoms out of the fridge.*   Our biggest competition is still the *status quo*. Anyone can build a phantom — and they should, *once*. But in industry or clinical R&D, your time is better spent solving the bigger problems. 📹 Check out the YouTube Short to see the proof: And if you’re ready to move faster and get out of serial dilutions, we’d love to help! Please [contact us](https://shop.quelimaging.com/resources/#contact) [standardization](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/standardization), [use-guide](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/use-guide), [fluorescencefriday](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/fluorescencefriday) ## Related posts [![Animation showing Gaussian Splat of the Prototype FluoFlow Colon Phantom](https://blog.quelimaging.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUEL_FluoFlowColon.gif?height=200&name=QUEL_FluoFlowColon.gif)](https://blog.quelimaging.com/3dgs-opsiclear-quel) [concepts](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/concepts), [fluorescencefriday](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/fluorescencefriday), [clinical translation](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/clinical-translation) ## [3D Gaussian Splatting and Future Digital Twins](https://blog.quelimaging.com/3dgs-opsiclear-quel) ![Picture of Ethan LaRochelle](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/925081a77283a399dbd145b49b251212) [Ethan LaRochelle](https://blog.quelimaging.com/author/ethan) Nov 14, 2025 10:45:00 AM This week, we shared a five-day series of 3D Gaussian splats created in collaboration with... [Read more](https://blog.quelimaging.com/3dgs-opsiclear-quel) [![Illustration of a general spectrophotometry configured with two integrating spheres. Most commercial spectrophotometers only contain one integrating sphere. ](https://blog.quelimaging.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Oct-13-2025-06-50-47-0324-PM.png?height=200&name=undefined-Oct-13-2025-06-50-47-0324-PM.png)](https://blog.quelimaging.com/spectrophotometry-overview) [concepts](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/concepts), [optical properties](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/optical-properties), [tissue optics](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/tissue-optics), [optiblox](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/optiblox) ## [Full-Spectrum Optical Measurements in Tissue and Phantoms](https://blog.quelimaging.com/spectrophotometry-overview) ![Picture of The QUEL Team](https://blog.quelimaging.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUEL_Q.png?width=50&name=QUEL_Q.png) [The QUEL Team](https://blog.quelimaging.com/author/quel) Oct 15, 2025 7:30:00 AM If you're building an optical medical device (e.g., pulse oximeters, surgical guidance tools,... [Read more](https://blog.quelimaging.com/spectrophotometry-overview) [![Illustration of how green and red light will scatter and absorb differently in tissue. ](https://blog.quelimaging.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Oct-13-2025-05-56-25-7121-PM.png?height=200&name=undefined-Oct-13-2025-05-56-25-7121-PM.png)](https://blog.quelimaging.com/light-tissue-interaction-overview) [concepts](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/concepts), [optical properties](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/optical-properties), [tissue optics](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/tissue-optics), [optiblox](https://blog.quelimaging.com/tag/optiblox) ## [Light-Tissue Interactions in Optical Medical Devices](https://blog.quelimaging.com/light-tissue-interaction-overview) ![Picture of The QUEL Team](https://blog.quelimaging.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUEL_Q.png?width=50&name=QUEL_Q.png) [The QUEL Team](https://blog.quelimaging.com/author/quel) Oct 13, 2025 3:12:06 PM When you're developing medical imaging systems, one of the biggest challenges is understanding how... [Read more](https://blog.quelimaging.com/light-tissue-interaction-overview) [linkedin-in icon](https://www.linkedin.com/company/quel-imaging/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.youtube.com/@quel-imaging/featured) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.instagram.com/quel_imaging/) --- ![QUEL_Q](https://blog.quelimaging.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUEL_Q.png?width=97&height=99&name=QUEL_Q.png) QUEL Imaging aims to build an ecosystem to accelerate and standardize methods for clinical translation of in vivo optical imaging technologies. QUEL Imaging, LLC 85 N. Main St. Suite 142 White River Junction, VT, USA Copyright © 2026, QUEL Imaging ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Ethan LaRochelle", "url" : "https://blog.quelimaging.com/author/ethan" }, "dateModified" : "2025-06-27T10:05:27.425Z", "datePublished" : "2025-06-27T10:05:27.000Z", "headline" : "Back to the Future: From Telesurgery to Translational Tools", "image" : [ "https://blog.quelimaging.com/hubfs/Phantoms-2016.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.quelimaging.com/back-to-the-future", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.quelimaging.com/hubfs/QUEL_Q.png" }, "name" : "QUEL Imaging" } } ```