0000000000274129
AUTHOR
Daumants Pfafrods
Optical fiber diffusive tip designs for medical laser-lightguide delivery systems
Medical laser radiation delivery instruments with diffusive tips on the distal ends of plastic-clad silica optical fibers have been designed, tested, and manufactured. The instruments are optimized for endoscopic, therapeutic, dermatologic and surgical laser treatment. The diffusive tips provide radial, cylindrical and aside-conical spatial distributions of the output radiation. Optical schemes concerning each type of the tip and the corresponding spatial distribution functions of the output radiation are presented and analyzed. Designs of the lightguide instruments for surgical and dermatological procedures demanding local high-power laser irradiation are also discussed.
Glowing optical fiber designs and parameters
Side-emitting optical fiber designs and main parameters have been studied. A simplified model to describe emission of the 'glowing' fiber is developed. Basic expressions for the emission parameters as functions of the input radiation intensity, distance along the fiber axis and scattering efficiency longitudinal distribution are given for several design modifications. The model assumptions have been checked experimentally by testing silica core side-glowing optical fiber samples.
<title>Clinical potential of the side-glowing optical fibers</title>
Unconventional designs of silica-core optical fibers providing efficient lateral emission through the cylindrical side surface have been developed and manufactured. A physical model of the side-glowing fibers, available experimental data and potential clinical applications of this type of lightguides are discussed. Promising, clinical applications can be expected in the following areas: (1) Phototherapy, including photo-dynamic therapy, soft-laser therapy and visible/UV broadband irradiation therapy. (2) Single-fiber laser Doppler flowmetry. (3) Laser-tissue dosimetry. (4) Linear and planar 'cold light' illumination. (5) Optical sensing of mechanical pressure.