23.1 INTRODUCTION

Optical fibers have revolutionized medicine in many ways. They have advanced both diagnostics and treatments capabilities. Their major advantages lie in the fact that they are thin and flexible so they can be introduced into the body to remotely sense, image, and treat.

This capability enabled the introduction of minimally invasive procedures, which became the preferred choice for surgery. Such procedures minimize the postoperative pain and discomfort, as well as shorten and sometimes eliminate hospitalization time, thus saving on costs and reducing the number of missed workdays. They also reduce the risk of contamination from the hospital environment. And maybe, most importantly, they allow the patient return to the comfort of his or her home sooner.

People are taking it naturally to have endoscopes in the clinical practice. This instrument and all its variations is based on the existence of a coherent fiber bundle, which allows imaging of internal organs while working their way through the natural orifices of the body or in some cases through minimal incisions. Fiber bundles were patented in the 1920s by Baird in England and Hansell in the United States in parallel, but most important progress and realization were made by Van Heel and Capany in the 1950s (also two parallel unconnected works). Now imaging bundles can have 100,000 fibers that are small enough and flexible to be used...