Rugged, Reliable

Rugged and Reliable

. . . Why Rugged and Reliable Matter

  • No moving parts = long life
  • Little power loss over time
  • No PSF degradation over time
  • Low vibration sensitivity
  • Lasers have tended to be higher-mortality elements of an OCT system
  • Degradation of time in power or PSF leads to poorer images during the lifetime of an OCT system

 

No Moving Parts = Long Life

The underlying technology that allowed Insight to develop this laser was originally developed for long-haul telecommunications where components are placed underground or underwater and require reliability 30 years operation from -40C To +70C.  The data on the lasers support very long lifetimes.  The MTTF of the laser is 350 years, and the failure rate (FIT)  is 10 parts per billion after 15 years.
 
 

 

Little Power Loss Over Time

Because the entire laser and tuning cavity are all on a single semiconductor chip, the Insight laser avoids the typical degradation of power over time due to cumulative misalignment losses when many discrete optical components are required.  There is a single alignment of fiber to laser within a sealed package, thus minimizing the drop in power over time.

 

Low Vibration Sensitivity

The same factors that lead to long life and low power loss over time contribute to virtually zero vibration sensitivity.  The fiber itself is slightly vibration sensitive, but otherwise the laser is relatively impervious to vibration.  This applies to both reliability, and to performance variation under vibration conditions.

 

No PSF Degradation Over Time

Importantly, the PSF of your Insight laser will not degrade over time, since the laser is constantly re-evaluating its own performance, and tweaking it’s drive signals to ensure optimum linearity and resulting optimal PSF characteristics and image quality.

 

Learn more about Insight's akinetic technology.