Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Using a new laser process to custom shape optical fibers

By R&D Editors | May 19, 2015

Thanks to a new laser process, optical fibers can now be inserted into even smaller vein branches. In this prototype, the tip is inside the fiber probe. © Fraunhofer IZMModern medicine relies on optical fibers to cauterize unhealthy veins in a minimally invasive way. Now, Fraunhofer researchers have developed a laser processing method that facilitates automated series manufacture of these fibers at a much finer quality than ever before. The scientists presented a fiber probe prototype manufactured using the new technique at the measurement fair SENSOR+TEST 2015 in Nuremberg.

Venous disease is fairly widespread in Germany: According to 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 fiber 0.5 millimeters in diameter is inserted into the affected blood vessel. Laser light is conducted through the middle of the fiber to the fiber 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 fiber 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 fiber tip.

In the LaserDELight project, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM have developed a new, laser-based process for precisely shaping this sort of optical fiber. They use the FiberTurningLaser, which is a laser for glass processing. “The method enables the first automated series production,” explains Dr. Henning Schröder from Fraunhofer IZM. Until now, producing the fibers required complicated mechanical and manual processes that not only took significantly longer, but cost more too. “What’s more, replicating a suitable product is extremely difficult,” adds Schröder. Automation ensures consistent high quality. The project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF.

Optical fiber tip inside the probe

Using a laser beam, the researchers can shape the optical fiber tip. In a later production step, the protective cap is fused onto the fiber so that no additional fixture is needed. “The new process has demonstrated that it is more practical to fashion a cone-shaped indentation in the fiber than have a tapered shape like the tip of a pencil,” explains Schröder. This offers yet another advantage: the cap on the fiber end is smaller because the tip of the cone is eliminated, making the fiber probe head in general more compact and versatile. Now, it can be inserted into even smaller vein branches.

With help from laser technology, the scientists are trying to achieve even finer dimensions, which can no longer be produced by hand: the goal is optical fibers 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. To put it simply, for VLC, the process is the reverse of the endovenous laser procedure. “The fiber tip collects data from the environment and sends it back through the fiber to a detector,” Schröder explains. This detector—a photodiode or CMOS chip—converts the optical information into electrical signals for evaluation. Schröder and his Fraunhofer IZM colleagues will present the fiber probe prototype May 19-21 at the measurement fair SENSOR+TEST in Nuremburg (Hall 12, Booth 537).

SOURCE: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Related Articles Read More >

Eli Lilly facility
9 R&D developments this week: Lilly builds major R&D center, Stratolaunch tests hypersonic craft, IBM chief urges AI R&D funding
professional photo of wooly mammoth in nature --ar 2:1 --personalize sq85hce --v 6.1 Job ID: 47185eaa-b213-4624-8bee-44f9e882feaa
Why science ethicists are sounding skepticism and alarm on ‘de-extinction’
ALAFIA system speeds complex molecular simulations for University of Miami drug research
3d rendered illustration of the anatomy of a cancer cell
Funding flows to obesity, oncology and immunology: 2024 sales data show where science is paying off
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE