Optical properties of end-sealed hollow fibers.

We propose sealing techniques for medical hollow fibers to protect the inner surface of fibers from debris or water that scatters from targets. First, hollow fibers are sealed with a film of polymer that is easily formed by use of a dipping technique. The transmission loss of 20-microm-thick sealing film was 0.2 dB for Er:YAG laser light, and the maximum energy that is available for the film was 180 mJ. Second, a sealed glass cap was applied to the output end of hollow fiber. The silica-glass cap with a wall thickness of 400 microm shows a transmission loss of 0.5 dB and was not damaged by radiation of 400-mJ energy pulses.