Recently, polymer optical fibre dosimeters have been proposed for use in radiation oncology. Prior to clinical acceptance the effects of radiation on the materials involved must be assessed. In this work, the effects of radiation on mechanical strength and power transmission of polymer optical fibres were investigated. The fibres were subject to high energy electrons and photons generated by a ...

Computer models are used to simulate the nonlinear formation of images of obscurations in laser beams. The predictions of the model are found to be in good agreement with measurements conducted in the nonlinear regime corresponding to a typical solid-state laser operation. In this regime, peak-to-mean fluence ratios large enough to induce damage in optical components are observed. The amplitude...

Optical-thermal models that can accurately predict temperature rise and damage in blood vessels and surrounding tissue may be used to improve the treatment of vascular disorders. Verification of these models has been hampered by the lack of time- and depth-resolved experimental data. In this preliminary study, an optical coherence tomography system operating at 4-30 frames per second was used t...

Competing nonlinear optical effects are involved in the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with transparent dielectrics: supercontinuum generation and multiphoton-induced bulk damage. We measured the threshold energy for supercontinuum generation and bulk damage in fused silica using numerical apertures (NAs) ranging from 0.01 to 0.65. The threshold for supercontinuum generation exhibits a...