Light Guides and Image Conduits

An image conduit is a bundle of fibers (usually fused) that can transmit an image from one end to the other, with resolution that is a function of the constituent fiber diameter. Overall conduit diameters can be on the order of 0.1 mm to 25 mm (0.004" - 1"), and are typically 12 mm - 150 mm (0.5" - 6") in length for large diameter pieces, or as long as several feet for smaller diameter pieces. Image conduits are usually drawn as multifiber structures, which are fused together during the draw process.

As with individual fibers, image conduits larger than approximately 1.5mm (0.06") in diameter are fairly rigid, but can be permanently bent to meet special routing requirements. As with multi-fibers, image conduits can be designed to have custom OAR's, constituent fiber diameters, EMA configurations, and numerical apertures.