Home / News / Researchers make optical fibre with laser for medical use

Researchers make optical fibre with laser for medical use

12 May '15

2 min read

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM have developed a new, laser-based process that helps automated series manufacturing of optical fibres at a much finer quality, for medical treatment through veins.

The scientists are set to present a fibre probe prototype manufactured using the new technique at the measurement fair, SENSOR+TEST 2015, in Nuremberg, from May 19 to 21, 2015.

According to reports from the German Venous League, one in five women and one in six men suffer from varicose veins, thrombosis or other vein problems. Endovenous laser vein therapy is one remedy. For this procedure, a plastic-coated optical fibre, 0.5 millimetres in diameter, is inserted into the affected blood vessel. Laser light is conducted through the middle of the fibre to the fibre tip. At a temperature of several hundred degrees, the emitted light cauterizes the tissue and causes the veins to collapse. To ensure that the light strikes the side walls of the vein directly, the fibre tip is tapered with a cone-shaped indentation that forms a reflective surface for the laser light. A protective glass cap ensures that no blood deposits directly on the tip could change the optical characteristics of the laser light. The cap also protects the patient from any injury from the fibre tip.

The German researchers have made the FiberTurningLaser, which is a laser for glass processing used in this treatment. Using a laser beam, the researchers can shape the optical fibre tip. In a later production step, the protective cap is fused onto the fibre so that no additional fixture is needed, according to a press release.

With help from laser technology, the scientists are trying to achieve even finer dimensions of optical fibres with a diameter of only 100-200 micrometers. These could open up new applications in the area of optical sensors, for instance as micro optics for visible light communication (VLC) – a technology for optical data transmission.

The project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF. (GK)

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India