273 results about "Optical fiber bundle" patented technology

Fibre optic cables (100), for use in a data communications network are adapted to be laid, along at least part of their length within a pipe (or conduit) (1) carrying a fluid and comprise fibres adapted for sensing the condition within or in the vicinity of the pipe (1). The cables (100) comprise one or more data fibre bundles (11) and armour (32) in the form of a layer of protective wires provided around the data fibre bundles (11). The cable (100) is additionally provided with outer sensing fibres (14) which replace one or more wires in the armour (32). The cables (100) are optionally adapted to remain stably positioned in the invert (2) of the pipe (1) by suitable selection of stiffness and relative density compared to the fluid and / or the provision of surface formations to reduce lift and / or drag forces experienced by the cable as a result of fluid flow.

The invention discloses a laser deicing method and device based on ice layer thickness and surface state recognition, belongs to the technical field of fan blade deicing, and aims to solve the problems of low efficiency, large energy loss and high blade damage risk caused by incapability of accurately sensing the ice layer state in the conventional fan blade laser deicing technology. The system comprises an active sensing module and a laser clearing module. The active sensing module measures the thickness and the surface state of an ice layer through infrared laser, and performs multi-dimensional monitoring in combination with a laser radar, a camera and a thermal infrared imager. And the laser clearing module dynamically adjusts laser parameters for deicing according to the sensing result. According to the invention, a non-contact ice thickness measurement method based on infrared laser and a surface state identification method based on relative illumination intensity are created for the first time, and accurate sensing of the ice layer state is realized. A laser and a power supply are fully integrated in the unmanned aerial vehicle, the constraint of a ground platform and optical fibers is eliminated, and the deicing task of the fan blade is accurately completed.

A coherent fiber optic bundle breakout cable assembly includes a trunk fiber bundle having a plurality of optical fibers in a close-packed 2D array at a trunk connector end face, and multiple breakout bundles emanating from the trunk fiber bundle and each including a group of optical fibers in a close-packed 2D array at a breakout connector end face, with optical fibers being in lateral contact with one another. Bonding material is arranged in interstitial spaces of optical fibers near ends of each breakout bundle. A method for fabricating such an assembly includes holding the plurality of optical fibers within an elastomeric fixture, dicing the plurality of fibers to provide diced ends thereof, selectively applying and curing bonding material in interstitial spaces between optical fibers proximate to the diced ends according to a bundle-forming pattern, separating groups of optical fibers into breakout bundles, and retaining each breakout bundle in a corresponding breakout bundle ferrule aperture of one or more breakout bundle ferrules.

A near-wall velocimetry probe includes a probe body configured for flush mounting on a surface, at least one tracer source mounted to or integrated within the probe body, at least one fiber bundle mounted to or integrated within the probe body, and at least one detector optically coupled to the at least one fiber bundle. The at least one fiber bundle is configured to capture optical signals from the tracers. The probe may include an illumination source embedded within the probe body and optical filters coupled to the fiber bundle. Methods for measuring near-wall flow velocity using the probe and systems for near-wall velocimetry are also provided.

The application provides a photoacoustic endoscope and an endoscope system. The photoacoustic endoscope comprises a light guide part, an operation part and an insertion part, a fiber bundle extends from the light guide part to a head end part at the distal end of the insertion part via the operation part, the fiber bundle comprises a main trunk section, a first branch section and a second branch section, the photoacoustic endoscope further comprises a joint assembly, the joint assembly comprises a main trunk joint, a first branch joint and a second branch joint which are independently and detachably connected to the main trunk joint, the proximal end of the main trunk section is optically coupled to a light guide interface on the light guide part, the distal end of the main trunk section is connected to the main trunk joint, the proximal end of the first branch section is connected to the first branch joint, the proximal end of the second branch section is connected to the second branch joint, the distal ends of the first branch section and the second branch section are both fixed to the head end part, and the distal end of the main trunk section is optically coupled to the proximal ends of the first branch section and the second branch section. Such a photoacoustic endoscope can be conveniently disassembled, repaired or replaced when returned for repair, has better maintainability and better user experience.

The utility model discloses an integrated two -dimensional optical fiber array module, include: fixed base, be equipped with the assembly recess on the fixed base, the optical fiber fixed base piece of card embedding fixed in the assembly recess, the optical fiber fixed base piece is made by glass material and adopts laser processing, be equipped with a plurality of through arrangement and array distribution's optical fiber fixed hole on the optical fiber fixed base piece, and the one side of optical fiber fixed hole is equipped with the guide mouth, and, optical fiber group, optical fiber group includes a plurality of optical fiber bundles, and the front end of optical fiber bundle is from the guide mouth and enters the optical fiber fixed hole, and fills with the glue solid layer in the guide mouth and the optical fiber fixed hole to fix optical fiber bundle, by adopting the optical fiber fixed base piece made of glass material to replace the multilayer single crystal silicon base piece, on one hand manufacturing cost project, and the processing assembly process is simpler, and thus production efficiency is higher, on the other hand can eliminate multilayer single crystal silicon base piece after assembling and appear corresponding precision error, has improved the optical fiber direction precision.

This application relates to a multi-channel fiber optic image transmission device, which belongs to the field of fiber optic image transmission. It includes an image input fiber bundle, an image processing relay, and an image output fiber bundle. Multiple image input fiber bundles are provided. The image output fiber bundle and the multiple image input fiber bundles are respectively connected to the image processing relay. The image processing relay includes an input reflector and an image combining mirror. Multiple input reflectors are provided, and each input reflector is respectively positioned opposite to the multiple image input fiber bundles. These reflectors can reflect the images introduced by the multiple image input fiber bundles to the image combining mirror. The image combining mirror is positioned opposite to the image output fiber bundle, and can combine the images reflected by the input reflectors and then illuminate the image output fiber bundle. This allows for the acquisition of combined images from different locations in a distant region, ensuring the quality of the combined image.

The present application relates to the technical field of furniture detection, and relates to a device for detecting the smoothness of the inner wall of a hole in solid wood furniture, comprising a support and a detection unit, the support being used for arranging and adjusting the direction and angle of the detection unit, the detection unit comprising a fiber bundle probe and a main component, the fiber bundle probe being used for emitting light and receiving reflected light of the inner wall of the hole in the solid wood furniture to detect the smoothness, the fiber bundle probe comprising one emitting fiber and a plurality of receiving fibers, the emitting fiber being located at the center and the plurality of receiving fibers being uniformly distributed around the emitting fiber; the main component being connected with the fiber bundle probe and being used for providing a light source and processing reflected light signals, the main component comprising a laser diode, a programmable laser drive circuit, a MEMS micromirror array, a photodiode array and a microprocessor, the present application realizes non-contact detection through emitting and receiving light, completely avoids physical damage to the hole wall of the wood, and is particularly suitable for quality control of high-grade solid wood furniture.

The utility model provides a double-color ultra-miniature microscopic imaging system, which solves the problem that the accuracy and effectiveness of data cannot be judged by the existing single-color fluorescence recording, and adopts the main scheme that the double-color ultra-miniature microscopic imaging system comprises a video acquisition card, a double-color ultra-miniature microscopic imaging mirror body, a multi-core optical fiber bundle, an LED (light-emitting diode) driving circuit, a digital signal acquisition card and a switching power supply, the video acquisition card is electrically connected with the LED driving circuit and can be communicated with computer acquisition software to distinguish odd frames and even frames by taking image frames as units and synchronously control corresponding light source signals, and the double-color ultra-miniature microscopic imaging mirror body is used for emitting two excitation lights and collecting and imaging fluorescence models. The multi-core optical fiber bundle is used for coupling two kinds of exciting light into a light source and connecting the light source to the two-color ultra-miniature microscopic imaging mirror body, and the LED driving circuit is used for receiving a control signal of the video acquisition card so as to realize synchronization of on-off of the exciting light and image frames.

The application discloses a fouling detection device and method based on photoacoustic imaging, wherein the detection device comprises: a sealed cover with at least one transparent surface; a photoacoustic excitation module comprising a laser, an optical fiber bundle and a plurality of micro-fiber collimators; the micro-fiber collimators are integrated in the transparent surface and used for irradiating laser outside the transparent surface to generate a photoacoustic signal; a photoacoustic collection module arranged along the propagation direction of the photoacoustic signal and used for collecting the photoacoustic signal; and a data processing module in communication connection with the photoacoustic collection module and used for calculating the fouling degree outside the transparent surface according to the collected photoacoustic signal. The application adopts nanosecond-level light pulses to improve the detection accuracy; and the laser sequentially traverses the optical fiber, so that the position of fouling can be accurately located, and a reliable basis is provided for fouling removal.

A fiber optic device and method for uniform illumination of biological samples distributed over one or more microcell arrays of a microwell plate can establish more reliable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) data sampling. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a light engine that emits a light beam captured by a fiber optic bundle for delivering one or more light beams to each microchamber; each light beam thereby fluoresces the biological sample. The fiber optic cable of the fiber optic bundle comprises a distal output end held in place using a mechanical support for flexibly aligning the output beam of the distal output end to be arranged such that the center of the output beam is directed to different locations in the one or more microcell arrays, wherein each of adjacent ones of the output beams partially overlaps so that the light distribution is uniform.

The invention relates to the technical field of cables, solves the problem that an existing aerospace cable is insufficient in vibration fatigue resistance and high-energy radiation resistance, and particularly discloses a multi-layer shielding optical fiber composite aerospace cable and a preparation method thereof.The multi-layer shielding optical fiber composite aerospace cable comprises an insulating layer, an inner shielding layer, a buffer bonding layer and an outer shielding layer which are sequentially arranged from inside to outside; a conductor core and an optical fiber bundle are arranged in the insulating layer, and the insulating layer comprises a bonding transition layer, a core insulating layer and an anti-radiation protection layer from inside to outside; the inner shielding layer comprises a nano-silver conductive film and a silicone rubber elastic layer, and the nano-silver conductive film is arranged on the inner side of the silicone rubber elastic layer; the outer shielding layer is provided with a nickel-copper alloy wire woven mesh; and the buffer bonding layer is provided with a modified polyimide adhesive layer. According to the optical fiber composite aerospace cable and the preparation process thereof, the shielding, buffering and interlayer bonding performance of the cable is guaranteed through control over the inner shielding layer, the buffering bonding layer and related preparation parameters, and the optical fiber composite aerospace cable adapts to aerospace application requirements.

The invention discloses an MEMS imaging pressure integrated sensing probe based on a meta ultra-thin lens and a processing method, the integrated sensing probe comprises an optical fiber bundle, a gasket and the meta ultra-thin lens after wet etching from bottom to top, the meta ultra-thin lens after wet etching comprises a metasurface and an ultra-thin substrate, and the ultra-thin substrate is used for realizing MEMS pressure sensing. The ultra-thin substrate of the metasurface lens is realized through a sacrificial layer removal process, and the diameter and the rigid length of the integrated probe meet the ultra-thin application requirement in combination with micro-scale cutting and integration.

A photoelectric converter sensitivity adjusting device and method, comprising a light source module, a shielding cage, an optical fiber bundle, an optical power meter, a power supply, a photoelectric converter and a voltmeter, the light source module is used to generate test light, one end of the shielding cage is provided with a small hole for receiving the test light, the other end is provided with an optical fiber bundle connector connected with the optical fiber bundle, the test light entering the shielding cage from the small hole enters one end of the optical fiber bundle from the optical fiber bundle connector, the optical power meter is used to test the optical power emitted from the other end of the optical fiber bundle, the photoelectric converter has an optical fiber bundle connector and an output signal line, the optical fiber bundle connector is used to be detachably connected to the other end of the optical fiber bundle, and the voltmeter tests the output voltage of the photoelectric converter; the photoelectric converter is provided with a sensitivity adjusting resistor, and the output voltage can be changed under the same light intensity excitation. The device can shield the interference of environmental light in ordinary experimental environment, accurately adjust the sensitivity of the photoelectric converter, and has the advantages of low cost, high detection efficiency and convenient operation.

The invention discloses an optical-ultrahigh frequency combined sensing GIS partial discharge monitoring system and method. The system comprises an ultrahigh frequency detection unit, an optical detection unit and a signal composite output unit, wherein the ultrahigh frequency detection unit and the optical detection unit are arranged in parallel; the ultrahigh-frequency detection unit is used for detecting ultrahigh-frequency electromagnetic signals in the GIS cavity; the optical detection unit comprises a large-view-field optical lens, an optical conduction assembly and a photoelectric converter which are connected in sequence; the large-view-field optical lens is formed by combining a plurality of aspherical lenses, and the large-view-field optical lens is used for converging optical signals in the GIS cavity; the optical conduction assembly comprises an optical fiber bundle which is used for receiving and conducting optical signals; the photoelectric converter comprises a silicon photomultiplier tube or a photomultiplier tube, and is used for converting a weak optical signal into an electric signal; the signal composite output unit is respectively connected with the ultrahigh frequency detection unit and the optical detection unit, and the signal composite output unit is used for outputting signals of the ultrahigh frequency detection unit and the optical detection unit.

Disclosed is an electric power equipment internal discharge position and spectral information multiplexing photoelectric sensing device, in a bipolar plate structure, a split light guide array is inserted into the interior of the electric power equipment to collect the discharge light beams from the interior of the electric power equipment, a microlens homogenizing plate is arranged at the bottom of the split light guide array, the upper surface of the microlens homogenizing plate is etched with a microlens array for focusing light signals to form parallel light beams; a fiber panel is arranged at the bottom of the microlens homogenizing plate, the upper panel is a central-symmetrical planar multi-lobe structure to group the parallel light beams, the lower panel is connected to the upper panel through a fiber bundle, and the lower panel is a rectangular structure to group the parallel light beams from the upper panel to form photon signals; a photoelectric array includes a silicon photomultiplier array and a surface spectral coating arranged on the silicon photomultiplier array, and the multiplexing two-dimensional photoelectric array constructs a sparse spectral sensing line array based on the photon signals to generate spectral information and constructs a multi-normal intensity sensing line array to obtain position information.

The present invention provides an inspection device that inspects the internal condition of an object being measured from its back surface. [Solution] The inspection device comprises a holding means, an ultrasonic vibration generating means 40, an ultrasonic vibration capturing means 70, and an image generating means 110. The ultrasonic vibration generating means comprises an oscillator 41 that emits a pulsed laser beam LB1, and a fiber bundle 43 composed of multiple rings in which multiple optical fibers are arranged in multiple rings of different diameters that form concentric circles. The length of the optical fibers constituting the fiber bundle is formed to increase from the configuration of a large ring with a large diameter that forms the concentric circles to the configuration of a small ring with a small diameter that forms the concentric circles. The pulsed laser beam is first irradiated onto the upper surface of the object to be measured from the optical fibers constituting the large ring, and then the pulsed laser beam is gradually irradiated onto the upper surface of the object to be measured from the optical fibers constituting the small ring with a time difference, thereby focusing the ultrasonic vibration at a desired internal position of the object to be measured.

The invention discloses a hollow-core and solid-core optical fiber hybrid optical fiber bundle and an optical cable comprising the same, and belongs to the technical field of optical fiber communication, the hollow-core and solid-core optical fiber hybrid optical fiber bundle comprises a hollow-core optical fiber, a solid-core optical fiber (the solid-core optical fiber can be G.652D, G.654E or G.655 and the like), a first layer of resin and a second layer of resin; a hollow-core optical fiber is arranged in the center of an optical fiber bundle to ensure that the bending radius of the hollow-core optical fiber is maximum when the optical fiber bundle is bent, the bending loss of the hollow-core optical fiber is reduced, and meanwhile, the periphery of the hollow-core optical fiber is coated with a layer of low-modulus resin to reduce the bending stress of the hollow-core optical fiber; meanwhile, the periphery of the low-modulus resin is filled with the high-modulus resin, so that the mechanical performance of the optical fiber bundle is guaranteed, the solid-core optical fibers arranged in the optical fiber bundle in a mixed mode are annularly distributed on the outer sides of the hollow-core optical fibers, the hollow-core optical fibers in the middle are protected through the solid-core optical fibers, and the overall mechanical strength of the optical fiber bundle is further improved.

The invention relates to a device and a method for manufacturing an optical fiber bundle (2), the device comprising a clamp device (3) for accommodating and holding a plurality of optical fibers (20), a pressing device (4) for providing a force to the clamp device (3), a pressing accommodation (40) arranged on the pressing device (4) for accommodating the clamp device (3) and for pressing the plurality of optical fibers (20) arranged in the clamp device (3), and at least one beam source (5) with a light path (50) directed to an area in or adjacent to the clamp device (3) in order to interconnect, in particular to fuse, the plurality of optical fibers (20) accommodated in the clamp device (3).

The invention discloses a soft cylindrical laser treatment device for the inner wall of a biological pipeline. The soft cylindrical laser treatment device comprises a laser, an optical fiber bundle coupler, a fixed sleeve, a transmission optical fiber bundle, a contraction sleeve, a cylindrical emitter, a transparent hose and a developing cap. The laser is used for independently or simultaneously generating laser with different treatment wavelengths; the optical fiber coupler is used for coupling laser into the transmission optical fiber bundle; the fixing sleeve is used for connecting the optical fiber bundle coupler and the transmission optical fiber bundle; the transmission optical fiber bundle can transmit laser from the optical fiber bundle coupler to the cylindrical surface emitter; the contraction sleeve is sleeved on the transmission optical fiber bundle and the cylindrical surface emitter; the cylindrical surface emitter is used for generating cylindrical surface laser; the transparent hose is sleeved outside the main body part of the cylindrical surface generator, and the inner diameter of the transparent hose is matched with that of the cylindrical surface emitter; and the developing cap is arranged at the foremost end of the cylindrical surface emitter in the transparent hose. The invention further provides application of the device.

A kind of power equipment image processing method based on optical fiber bundle imaging, storage medium and system, method is: signal output by infrared fiber bundle is collected by infrared camera pixel matrix, unit in matrix is divided into effective unit and invalid unit, and generate unit division binary matrix data file;Again processing obtains temperature correction matrix data file, temperature segmented point corresponding response value matrix data file, and establish the correction value of response value matrix under different radiation scene;Through numerical fitting and interpolation compensation method, the video stream of optical fiber bundle transmission image is carried out real-time restoration and optimization, completes the inversion from thermal map to temperature field distribution;The present application also includes the storage medium and system of storing the power equipment image processing method based on optical fiber bundle imaging of running this, the present application carries out real-time restoration and optimization to the video stream of optical fiber bundle transmission image by numerical fitting and interpolation compensation method, completes the inversion from thermal map to temperature field distribution.

The utility model belongs to the technical field of laser welding, and particularly relates to a multichannel laser which comprises a case and a water cooling plate installed in the case, the water cooling plate is provided with a plurality of pumping sources, beam shapers and diaphragms which are sequentially and correspondingly arranged, the case is provided with a plurality of optical fiber bundle channels, and the optical fiber bundle channels are communicated with the pumping sources. Each optical fiber bundle channel is connected with an optical fiber bundle; the pumping source is connected with the beam shaper through a homogenizing optical fiber, the beam shaper is arranged opposite to the diaphragm, and the diaphragm is connected with the optical fiber bundle; the plurality of pumping sources synchronously emit laser, and the laser enters the beam shaper through the corresponding homogenizing optical fibers and irradiates the corresponding optical fiber bundles so as to realize synchronous transmission of multiple beams of laser; according to the utility model, the plurality of channels are arranged, so that laser can be transmitted in different channels and finally output, and synchronous welding and product quality can be ensured when products with complex contours or special-shaped structures are welded.

The application provides an illuminating multi-point laser probe and an illuminating multi-point laser system, which comprise a collimating lens, a filter, a lens array, a fiber bundle, an adjustable diaphragm and a focusing lens; the collimating lens collimates an illuminating light beam or a laser beam emitted by a light source, and the collimated light beam enters the filter; the filter filters a light beam of a specified wave band, and the filtered light beam enters the lens array; the lens array divides the light beam to form converging light spots which are coupled into the fiber bundle; the fiber bundle transmits and emits the illuminating light beam and the laser beam; the adjustable diaphragm is arranged behind the lens array of the laser beam; the adjustable diaphragm controls the number and position of the emitted multi-point laser; the focusing lens is arranged at the distal end of a laser fiber included in the fiber bundle; and the focusing lens forms multi-point lasers at different distances at different distances of the light outlet. The energy utilization rate can be improved, the number and position of the multi-point laser in the emitted light can be controlled, and illumination, aiming and laser treatment can be simultaneously realized.

The application provides a method for searching exposure time and a quantum efficiency measuring system, comprising: a data processing module configured to configure fixed parameters of an image acquisition module and wavelengths of a wavelength configuration device; the image acquisition module is controlled to determine a candidate exposure time set according to a search step and an initial value of exposure time; after the wavelengths of the wavelength configuration device are configured, single-band light configured by the wavelength configuration device is received through an optical fiber bundle; a target exposure time is selected from the candidate exposure time set multiple times; images are captured multiple times under the environment of the wavelength of the wavelength configuration device; if the images do not occur light cutoff and satisfy a preset image saturation constraint condition and an image linearity constraint condition, the target exposure time is taken as a set of exposure times corresponding to the current wavelength; and a set of exposure times corresponding to the wavelength of each wavelength configuration device is searched until a set of exposure times corresponding to the wavelength of each wavelength configuration device is searched. The method is used to accurately search for exposure time meeting the linearity requirement.

The atmosphere lamp assembly comprises a bottom plate, a functional layer and an outer wrapping layer, the outer side face of the bottom plate is provided with a side wall part and a containing part, and the position, close to the side wall part, of the containing part is provided with a through groove part; the functional layer comprises a light guide fiber braid layer, and light inlet ends of light guide fibers belonging to warps or wefts in the light guide fiber braid layer are converged into at least one optical fiber bundle end; the optical fiber bundle end penetrates through the through groove part and is fixed on the inner side surface of the bottom plate; the outer wrapping layer covers the whole outer side face of the bottom plate and reversely wraps and covers part of the inner side face of the bottom plate and part of the light guide fibers from the edge of the bottom plate to the inner side face of the bottom plate. According to the utility model, the through groove part is additionally arranged on the bottom plate, so that the optical fiber bundle end of the light guide fiber braid layer on the outer side surface of the bottom plate can penetrate through the through groove part and then is fixed on the inner side surface of the bottom plate, and the outer coating layer does not need to reversely coat the whole functional layer, so that the light guide fiber is prevented from being excessively pressed and bent to cause light leakage to influence the optical performance; and meanwhile, the coating process difficulty is reduced.

Splices for cable tapes are provided herein. Cable tapes, such as water blocking tapes, that include such splices are also provided. The splices and tapes may be incorporated into a tape or cable wrapping for various conductors, includingpower, telecom, and fiber optic cables. A splice for use with a cable tape comprises a layer of nonwoven fibers. The fibers form a discontinuous adhesive web having a thickness of about 0.15 mm to about 1.0 mm. The discontinuous web structure of the splice is configured to prevent formation of a film in the cable tape. The splice forms a thermal bond with multiple sections of the cable tape while substantially maintaining the thickness of the tape. The splice preferably has a cross web flexibility similar to the cable tape at the elevated temperatures experienced during extrusion, particularly when the tape is applied longitudinally inside a co-extruded tube over the fiber bundle.

The application discloses a resource allocation method of a hybrid space division multiplexing elastic optical network and belongs to the technical field of optical communication. The application constructs a hybrid network model containing a multi-fiber bundle link and a multi-core optical fiber link, and designs a load and crosstalk aware heuristic algorithm. By means of modulation format step degradation, spectrum window plane construction to implicitly satisfy spectrum continuity constraints, load aware routing to balance network load, crosstalk aware core selection to suppress inter-core crosstalk, and optical signal-to-noise ratio verification to ensure transmission quality, joint optimization of routing, spectrum and spatial channels is realized. The application solves the problem that the prior art is only directed to a single type of space division multiplexing network and is difficult to adapt to a hybrid scene, effectively reduces network blocking rate under the premise of ensuring transmission quality, takes into account crosstalk suppression and spectrum efficiency, and has good engineering practicability.

An illumination unit for illuminating an area of operation during open surgery. The illumination unit including: a body; a fiber bundle configured to guide light towards a distal end of the body, and a reflector body arranged at the distal end of the body. Where at least a part of the fiber bundle is guided inside the body along a longitudinal direction, the fiber bundle is split up into a plurality of optical fibers which form a fiber layer on an inner surface of the body, end faces of the plurality of optical fibers are arranged at the distal end of the body, the reflector body encloses the end faces of the plurality of optical fibers in a radial direction and extends distally beyond the distal end of the body in the longitudinal direction, and an inner surface of the reflector body is a reflective surface.

The present disclosure provides an optical fiber cable (10) comprising: a core (12); and a sheath (14) surrounding the core (12). Particularly, the core (12) comprising a plurality of optical fiber bundles (161, 162, 163, . . . ) present in at least two concentric layers (181, 182, . . . ). Further, the plurality of optical fiber bundles (161, 162, 163, . . . ) are held together by one or more core-binding elements (201, 202, . . . ) applied only to an outermost surface (22) of the core (12).

Endoscope assembly suitable for repeated re-processing utilizing autoclave sterilization techniques. An endoscope includes a handpiece and an insertion tube attached to the handpiece, wherein the insertion tube comprises a sidewall, and wherein the sidewall comprises an interior surface and an exterior surface. The endoscope includes a cover plate attached to the interior surface of the sidewall of the insertion tube, and a window attached to the cover plate. The endoscope includes a fiber optic ferrule disposed within the insertion tube, wherein the fiber optic ferrule is configured to receive a distal fiber optic bundle, wherein the fiber optic ferrule is attached to the cover plate at the illumination hole such that electromagnetic radiation transmitted by the distal fiber optic bundle passes through the illumination hole of the cover plate.