Phase IIb: double-clad fibre coupler family

光纤使成像和遥感在狭小的空间。现代内窥镜能够在体内成像，可以用一根直径为八分之一毫米的光纤制造，比头发丝还细。这种单纤维内窥镜可以安装到手术针中并插入生物组织中。它们甚至可以穿过动脉，使患者跳动的心脏内部成像成为可能。 尽管光纤非常小，但它们目前仅利用几微米的直径来引导光。使用光纤的整个表面可以从生物组织中收集多达一百倍的光，生成更好的图像，并能够检测特定的组织类型。 我们的技术能够有效注入激光用于照明，并有效提取反向散射光用于图像重建和材料识别。它极大地改进了单纤维内窥镜，为临床医生提供了诊断和治疗的新工具。 该技术包括光纤耦合器，通过将特殊设计的光纤融合在一起制成的组件，形成具有所需功能的光学电路。不同的版本正在开发的特定应用，如心脏病学，眼科，激光手术和许多其他。我们的长期目标是为临床医生提供仪器，使他们能够在没有侵入性手术的情况下诊断疾病，甚至用激光摧毁可疑组织，所有这一切都通过一根微小的光纤。

Optical fibres enable imaging and remote sensing in tight spaces. Modern endoscopes, enabling imaging inside the body, can be fabricated with a single optical fibre having a diameter of one-eighth of a millimeter, thinner than a hair. Such single-fibre endoscopes can fit into a surgical needle and be inserted in biological tissue. They even fit through arteries, enabling imaging inside the beating heart of patients. Even though optical fibres are very small, they currently exploit only a diameter of a few micrometers to guide light. Using the whole surface of the fibre allows collecting up to a hundred times more light from the biological tissue, generating better images and enabling the detection of specific tissue types. Our technology enables the efficient injection of laser light for illumination and efficient extraction of back-scattered light for image reconstruction and material identification. It dramatically improves single-fibre endoscopes, giving new tools to clinicians for diagnostics and therapeutics. The technology consists in optical fibre couplers, components made by fusing together specially designed fibres, forming optical circuits with the desired functionality. Different versions are being developed for specific applications such as cardiology, ophtalmology, laser surgery and numerous others. Our long-term goal is for clinicians to have instruments enabling them to diagnose ailments without invasive surgery, even destroy suspicious tissue with laser light, all this through a tiny optical fibre.