Abstract: A connector for optical fibers comprising a plug assembly and a first ferrule mounted coaxially therein, a receptacle assembly and a second ferrule mounted coaxially therein, wherein at least one of the plug-mounted ferrule and the receptacle-mounted ferrule is biased outwardly from a fiber-entry end of the ferrule. An alignment sleeve optically connects the ferrules and maintains the optical connection during translation of one of the plug assembly and the receptacle assembly in a longitudinal direction relative to the other.

Abstract: An acoustic imaging device for providing an image of a body in a medium, includes a plurality of acoustic transmit elements and a plurality of acoustic receive elements, an apparatus for activating one of the transmit elements to generate an ultrasonic signal, an apparatus to selectively receive and record from each of the receive elements a set of data representing a phase, amplitude and transit time of the ultrasonic signal, a first computing apparatus for calculating a velocity map of propagation velocity values in each of a plurality of volume elements including the body and the medium using the data set, and a second computing apparatus for calculating a reflectance map, including a coherent sum of reflectance values at selected points in the plurality of volume elements using the data set.

Abstract: The present invention provides a rotary joint for optical fibers comprising a plug assembly and a first ferrule having a fiber-entry end mounted coaxially therein, a receptacle assembly and a second ferrule having a fiber-entry end mounted coaxially therein, wherein at least one of the plug-mounted ferrule and the receptacle-mounted ferrule is biased outwardly from a fiber entry-end of the ferrule, and an alignment sleeve for optically connecting the first and second ferrules and maintaining the optical connection during rotation of one of the plug assembly and the receptacle assembly about an axis parallel to a longitudinal direction of the assembly relative to the other of the plug assembly and the receptacle assembly.