Optical Fiber Cable Twist Management in Medical Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Optical fibers used in medical devices, such as catheter surgery, tend to twist and form rings or loops when rotated, leading to potential breakage and reduced operational flexibility due to the lack of effective mechanisms to manage fiber rotation.
Innovation Solution
An optical fiber cable design featuring a protective tube with higher bending rigidity than the optical fiber, allowing the fiber to twist within the tube during device rotation without forming rings, and a fitting member to restrict perpendicular displacement, enabling increased rotation counts without special rotation mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the optical fiber is made flexible to allow rotation of the treatment device, then the operational flexibility is improved, but the optical fiber forms rings or loops that lead to breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The optical fiber cable is segmented into two functional zones: a fixed protective tube portion that maintains structural integrity and prevents ring formation, and a flexible optical fiber portion that allows rotation. This segmentation enables the system to simultaneously achieve rotational flexibility and fiber protection without requiring complex rotation mechanisms.
2Reliability
If a rotation mechanism such as a bearing is introduced to prevent fiber twisting, then the fiber integrity is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the need for complex rotation mechanisms like bearings by using a simpler protective tube structure. The protective tube passively prevents fiber twisting through its structural design rather than active mechanical components, thereby maintaining fiber integrity while significantly reducing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical rotation system (bearings, rotatable joints) with a passive protective tube structure that relies on material properties and geometric design. This substitution eliminates complex mechanical components while achieving the same protective function through structural engineering.
3Reliability
If the protective tube is made rigid to prevent ring formation, then the fiber protection is improved, but the bending radius constraint increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protective tube is designed with local quality differentiation: it has sufficient rigidity in the radial direction to prevent ring formation and protect the fiber, while maintaining appropriate flexibility in the axial direction to accommodate the minimum bending radius requirements. This localized property optimization allows the tube to simultaneously provide protection and flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
An optical fiber has one end attached to an optical connector and the other end attached to a treatment device. An optical fiber passes through a protective tube. One end of the protective tube is fixed to the optical connector, and the other end is attached with a fitting member that is fitted to a fixing member on a treatment device side. The fixing member is attached to an end part on an input side of the treatment device. Although a thin-wall portion of the fixing member is inserted into the fitting member, the fixing member and the fitting member are not fixed to each other. In a case where the treatment device rotates around an axis by an operation of a user, the optical fiber rotates in response to the rotation of the treatment device, and is twisted in the protective tube.