PRE-FABRICATED, ON-DEMAND INTERFACE FOR USE IN PROVIDING OPTICAL COUPLING BETWEEN DISPOSABLE AND REUSEABLE MEMBERS OF A FIBER-OPTIC PROBE

摘要

A pre-fabricated, on-demand interface provides optical coupling between disposable and reusable portions of a fiber-optic probe. The interface uses a pre-cured, compressible optically-transmissive gel in a cavity of the disposable portion, which can be a disposable insertion tip of the fiber optic probe. The disposable portion includes an elongated housing, or sheath, and the cavity is located within and proximal of a distal end of the elongated housing. A proximal end of an optical assembly of the disposable portion is located within the cavity and contacts the gel. A first coupling, provided at a proximal end of the elongated housing, detachably couples to a mating, second coupling of the probe reusable portion. When the disposable and reusable portions are coupled together, the gel is compressed between the proximal end of the optical assembly of the disposable portion and a distal optical member of an optical assembly of the reusable portion.

主权项

1. A disposable insertion tip of a fiber optic probe, the disposable insertion tip comprising:
an elongated housing having a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end being insertable into a human cavity; an optical assembly disposed at the distal end of the elongated housing, the optical assembly including a proximal end that extends into a cavity provided within the elongated housing proximally of the distal end of the elongated housing; a connector disposed adjacent to the proximal end of the elongated housing, the connector including a first coupling that detachably couples to a mating, second coupling of a reusable portion of the fiber optic probe; and a pre-cured, compressible optically-transmissive gel disposed inside the cavity and contacting at least the proximal end of the optical assembly.