ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,546,584, issued on Feb. 10, was assigned to Intuitive Surgical Operations Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.).
"Micro optic assemblies and optical interrogation systems" was invented by Mark E. Froggatt (Blacksburg, Va.), Eric E. Sanborn (Blacksburg, Va.) and Alexander K. Sang (Blacksburg, Va.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Example embodiments include an optical assembly for an optical interrogation system having a single core or a multicore sensing fiber, a measurement fiber to couple light into the sensing fiber, and a reference fiber arranged with the measurement fiber as part of an optical interferometer. A beam splitter combines light from the...