Experimental and theoretical analysis of core-to-core coupling on fiber bundle imaging

Flexible endoscopes commonly use coherent fiber bundles with high core density to facilitate in vivo imaging. Small, closely spaced cores are desired for achieving a high number of resolvable pixels in a small diameter fiber bundle. On the other hand, closely spaced cores potentially lead to strong core-to-core coupling. Based on numerical simulations, it was previously explained that image fiber bundles can successfully transmit images because of nonuniformities in the core size that reduce coupling. In this paper, we show numerically and experimentally that, due to the randomness of the structural nonuniformity, significant core-to-core coupling still exists in fiber bundles that are routinely used for imaging. The coupling is highly dependent on the illumination wavelength and polarization state. We further show that the resolution achievable by a fiber bundle depends not only on the core density, but also on the inter-core coupling strength. Finally, we propose that increasing the core-cladding index contrast is a promising approach to achieve a fiber bundle with low core coupling, high core density, and effectively single moded propagation in individual cores.