Fabrication of Small-Bore Hollow Fibers for Er:YAG-laser dentistry

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The purpose of this research is to develop a fabrication method of a hollow fiber with very small bore for dental and ophthalmic uses of Er:YAG lasers. The fiber is fabricated by a method which is based on liquid-phase coating technology.In this research, we have investigated and developed following matters:1. Development of babrication method of small-bore glass hollow waveguideA thin film of fluorocarbon and cyclic-olefin polymer is successfully coated on the inside of small-bore glass capillary tubing with the inner diameter less than 200 micron.2. Fabrication and evaluation of small-bore hollow fiber devicesWe design and fabricated small-bore hollow fiber devices for dental and ophthalmic application. The devices are based stainless-steel and nickel tubing which are rugged so as to withstand medial uses severe environmental situation.3. Loss reduction of small-bore hollow fibersThe losses of hollow fibers with a bore smaller than 500 micron were reduced by improving a facrication method to increase the uniformity of the silver layer.4. Development of high-performance laser system for Er:YAG laser medical instrumentsBy combining the small-bore fiber and other hollow-fiber optical elements, a medical laser system was assembled. The system uses a small-bore hollow fiber for high flexibility which is necessary in many medical applications.