HIGH EFFICIENCY FIBER OPTIC IMAGE GUIDES FOR ENDOSCOPES

MEDICAL ENDOSCOPES REQUIRE FIBER OPTIC IMAGE GUIDES WITH INCREASED FLEXIBILITY AND ENHANCED LIGHT GATHERING POWER. EXISTING IMAGE GUIDES USE GLASS OPTICAL FIBERS WHICH ARE INTRINSICALLY BRITTLE AND ARE LIMITED IN NUMERICAL APERTURE. WE WILL USE IMAGE GUIDES MADE FROM POLYMER OPTICAL FIBERS WITH INCREASED FLEXIBILITY DUE TO NON-BRITTLE FIBER BEHAVIOR. AN EXTREMELY HIGH NUMERICAL APERTURE WILL ALSO BE ACHIEVED BY USE OF A VERY L0W REFRACTIVE INDEX NOVEL POLYMER FOR OPTICAL CLADDING. A HIGH REFRACTIVE INDEX POLYMER WILL BE POLYMERIZED, THIS MATERIAL WILL THEN BE PROCESSED INTO SQUARE CROSS SECTION CORE FIBER. THE CORE FIBER WILL HAVE A LOW REFRACTIVE INDEX POLYMER AS THE OPTICAL CLADDING. THE CLAD FIBER WILL BE ASSEMBLED IN PARALLEL CUT LENGTHS AND FUSED INTO A BUNDLE. THE BUNDLE WILL BE DRAWN DOWN TO GIVE A MULTIFIBER COHERENT IMAGE GUIDE. ASSEMBLIES OF THE MULTIFIBER WILL BE PROCESSED BY STANDARD TECHNIQUES INTO A FLEXIBLE, LARGER SECTION IMAGE GUIDE WITH CEMENTED, POLISHED ENDS SUITABLE FOR USE IN A HIGH EFFICIENCY ENDOSCOPE.