Once the stuff of science fiction, Carbon Dioxide lasers are now crucial to soft-tissue surgery and next gen manufacturing.

But a laser is only as good as the glass fibre that carries it.

Professor Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem is deputy director at the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing at the University of Adelaide.

Professor Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem from the University of Adelaide is developing a revolutionary new type of glass fibre to make the laser beams more efficient.

TechNOW is a podcast about Australian innovations that are shaping the future, thanks to the Global Connections Fund.