Medical applications of infrared transmitting silver halide fibers

It is clear that infrared transmitting fibers of high quality, with many uses in IR optical systems, can be fabricated from silver halide crystals. The process requires ultrapure starting material and control of extrusion parameters such as temperature and pressure. Under laboratory conditions, fibers have been produced that are usefully transparent from 2-25 /spl mu/m and have a loss coefficient of less than O.2 dB/m at 10.6 /spl mu/m. These fibers are flexible, and can be repeatedly bent into small radii circles without loss of transmission. The material is nontoxic, insoluble in water, and has an adequate shelf life. It is also of low cost and can be considered as a "disposable" if necessary. Lengths of several meters have been extruded, and with larger preforms and couplers, length is not a limitation. Further, much is now known of the optical and mechanical properties, and the possibility of laser-fibers is envisaged. These MIR fibers will be useful in many medical procedures, such as laser surgery, noncontact fiber-optic thermometry, and fiber-optic spectrometry. Fiber-optic medical tools based on MIR fibers will be used for diagnosis, therapy, and surgery in minimally invasive systems.