Abstract: An endoscopic shaft having multiple endoscopic elements set in a polymer common housing. The endoscopic elements may be drawn with the common housing to manufacture a component, called an EndoFiber, which forms the length of the endoscopic shaft. A second structure, called an Endocap, may be provided that includes optical elements and which is attached to the end of the EndoFiber to form the shaft.

Abstract: A method to fabricate solid linear fiber arrays, multi-hole arrays and inverse multi-hole arrays (i.e. space-separated arrays). These arrays may be used for example as capillary arrays, photonic crystal fiber, tissues engineering scaffolds and templates, imaging guides, thermal photovoltaic device, and thermal electric devices. The number of fibers used to fabricate the structures is variable. Individual fibers are deposited into a fiber depository and made to bond together. The deposition may be performed in line with fiber production or may be performed after producing the fibers through fiber rewinding. The bonded linear fiber array may be removed from the fiber depositories.

Abstract: A polymer fiber having multiple optical pathways set in a single cladding. The optical pathwaymultiple pathway fiber may be provided with connectors and thereby be used as a fiber cable for use with an interconnect. The optical pathwaymultiple pathway fiber may be constructed using a preform in a draw process. Alternatively, a novel vacuum draw method may be used in which optical pathway and cladding are mated and melded together during the draw process by creating a reduced pressure zone between the optical pathway and the cladding. A sacrificial substrate or cladding may be added around or along one side of the optical pathwaymultiple pathway fiber, and the combined cladding and fiber are drawn using a draw process. This cladding is removed, or partly removed, after the draw process. In this manner, the optical pathwaymultiple pathway fiber may have highly irregular and noncircular cross sections.