An illuminator and surgical illumination 
system are disclosed, one embodiment of the surgical illumination 
system comprising: a 
light source for providing a 
light beam; an optical cable, optically coupled to the 
light source for receiving and transmitting the 
light beam; a handpiece operably coupled to the optical cable; an 
optical fiber assembly operably coupled to the handpiece, wherein the 
optical fiber assembly is optically coupled to the optical cable to receive and transmit the 
light beam and wherein the 
optical fiber assembly comprises a plurality of 
fiber guides, wherein each 
fiber guide comprises a cladding having one or more 
fiber cores for transmitting and scattering the light beam to illuminate the surgical field, and a cannula, operably coupled to the handpiece for housing and directing the optical fiber assembly. The surgical illumination 
system can further comprise a separator operable to maintain a spacing between the fiber guides. The optical fiber assembly, the cannula, and the handpiece can be fabricated from biocompatible materials. The optical fiber assembly can be operably coupled to the handpiece to enable 
linear displacement of the optical fiber assembly within the cannula. The handpiece can include an adjustment means, such as a push / pull mechanism, for adjusting the 
linear displacement of the optical fiber assembly. Other adjusting means as known to those in the art can also be used including, for example, a mechanical 
coupling, an electrical 
coupling, a magnetic 
coupling, a pneumatic coupling or any combination thereof. The distal end of the optical fiber assembly can be coincident with an 
open aperture of the cannula. Adjusting the 
linear displacement via the adjusting means can thus cause the optical fiber assembly to exit the 
open aperture by an amount corresponding to the change in linear displacement (a reverse adjustment can retract the optical fiber assembly). Further, a separator can be positioned between the fiber guides in such a way that the fiber guides can be uniformly displaced outward from one another by an amount proportional to the change in linear displacement from the distal end of the cannula.