The bending radius of a fiberscope depends on several factors. The diamter if the fiber optic image bundle is most important. The smaller the diameter the image bundle the more flexible it will be and able to make bends without beaking the individual fibers. Anothe contributing factor will be the sheathing material. Teflon or nylon maybe the most forgiving and braided stailess steel the least. A leached image fiber may also have a better bending radius that scope made with quartz fibers. Below is a chart that corresponds to the Image fiber pixel count and it's respective bending radius.
|
Image Fiber / Pixel Count / FOV (Degrees) |
Min. Bend Radius |
|
1.6k= 1,600 pixel image bundle (55 FOV) |
6 mm |
|
3k= 3,000 pixel image bundle (55 FOV) |
8 mm |
|
6k= 6,000 pixel image bundle (65 FOV) |
15 mm |
|
6ku= 6,000 pixel image bundle (88 FOV) |
10 mm |
|
10k= 10,000 pixel image bundle (55 FOV) |
20 mm |
|
10ku= 10,000 pixel image bundle (70 FOV) |
17 mm |
|
17k= 17,000 pixel image bundle (70 FOV) |
4-12 mm |
|
30ku= 30,000 pixel image bundle (65 FOV) |
4-12 mm |
|
30k= 30,000 pixel image bundle (55 FOV) |
4-15 mm |
ATTACHMENT: Milliscope_II_Application_Notes_3-12_R7.pdf