What are the characteristics of quartz optical glass materials used in medical industry?

Quartz optical glass material is used in medical industry, its core advantages are high optical performance, stable physical and chemical properties and biological safety, and it can meet the strict requirements of medical diagnosis, treatment, instrument manufacturing and other scenes. The specific characteristics can be developed from four key dimensions:

First, excellent optical performance: meet the needs of medical accurate imaging and phototherapy.

The medical field requires extremely high "light transmittance, uniformity and stability". The optical characteristics of quartz optical glass can accurately match these scenes to avoid the influence of optical deviation on the diagnosis or treatment effect.

Wide spectrum and high transmittance, suitable for multi-band medical equipment.

It can achieve high transmittance from ultraviolet (UV) to infrared (IR) band (for example, the transmittance in 200-2500nm band is more than or equal to 90%), far exceeding ordinary optical glass (only the transmittance in visible light band is higher).

Application scenarios: ultraviolet therapeutic instrument (for treating dermatoses, it needs 254nm/311nm ultraviolet light to penetrate efficiently), infrared spectrum diagnostic instrument (for detecting blood components, it needs 800-1500nm infrared light with low loss transmission), and endoscope optical system (it needs visible light and near infrared light to penetrate simultaneously to ensure clear imaging in vivo).

Excellent optical uniformity, avoiding imaging distortion.

The internal refractive index deviation is very small (≤ 1× 10), and there are no bubbles, impurities or stripes, and there is no scattering or refractive deviation during light transmission.

Application scenarios: surgical microscope (imaging without distortion under high magnification is required to ensure that doctors can accurately locate lesions), optical coupling parts of CT/MRI equipment (signals need to be transmitted evenly to avoid image blur affecting diagnosis).

Low birefringence, suitable for polarized light medical detection

The intrinsic birefringence value is extremely low (≤5nm/cm), which will not interfere with the vibration direction of polarized light, and is suitable for medical detection relying on polarized light.

Application scenarios: polarization microscope (observation of biological tissue sections, such as identification of tumor cells, requires stable transmission of polarized light), fundus camera (low birefringence can avoid light interference and present clear vascular images when photographing fundus blood vessels).

Second, stabilize the physical and chemical characteristics: tolerate complex medical conditions and prolong the service life of the instrument.

Medical equipment is often in the environment of "high temperature, high pressure and chemical corrosion". The physical and chemical stability of quartz optical glass can ensure long-term reliable operation and avoid medical accidents caused by material failure.

High temperature resistance and low thermal expansion coefficient, suitable for high temperature disinfection and hyperthermia scenes.

The softening temperature is as high as 1730℃, which can withstand high temperature and high pressure disinfection (such as high pressure steam sterilization at 121℃, and conventional optical glass is easy to burst); The coefficient of thermal expansion is only 5.5× 10/℃ (about 1/10 of ordinary glass), and there is no crack or deformation when the temperature changes sharply.

Application scenarios: high-temperature sterilized optical instruments (such as optical probes for dental treatment) and optical lenses of laser treatment equipment (high temperature is generated when laser works, and low expansion coefficient can avoid lens deformation from affecting laser focusing).

Strong chemical inertness, corrosion resistance and no harmful substance precipitation.

It does not react with strong acids (such as hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid), strong bases (such as sodium hydroxide) or medical disinfectants (such as alcohol and hydrogen peroxide), and no heavy metals (such as lead and cadmium) or harmful ions are precipitated, which meets the requirements of medical biocompatibility (such as ISO 10993 standard).

Application scenarios: optical components of chemical analysis instruments (such as the cuvette of blood biochemical detector, which needs to contact with strong acid and alkali reagents and is pollution-free) and optical windows of implantable medical equipment (such as the optical probe of blood glucose monitor in vivo, which needs long-term implantation and no harmful substances are released).

High mechanical strength, impact resistance and wear resistance.

The surface hardness reaches Mohs hardness 7 (higher than 5.5 of ordinary glass), which is scratch-resistant and wear-resistant; The bending strength is about 90MPa, which is 30% higher than that of ordinary optical glass, and it can withstand slight collision in medical operation.

Application scenario: the optical panel of portable medical equipment (such as the protective glass of the display screen of handheld ultrasonic instrument, which needs to be moved frequently and protected from scratches) and the optical lens of surgical instruments (such as laparoscopic lens, which needs to withstand slight impact during operation and is not easy to wear).

Third, the biological safety is high: it meets the medical-grade hygiene standards and avoids cross-infection.

Medical materials need to be in direct or indirect contact with human tissues, blood or body fluids. The biological safety of quartz optical glass can eliminate the risk of "material contamination" or "cross infection".

Non-toxic, suitable for human contact scenes.

After biocompatibility test (such as cytotoxicity, sensitization and irritation test), it has no toxic reaction and will not cause human allergy or tissue damage.

Application scenarios: skin contact optical equipment (such as the optical window of laser hair removal instrument, which directly contacts the skin and has no irritation) and optical components for oral medical treatment (such as the lens of dental endoscope, which contacts the oral mucosa and has no toxicity).

The surface is easy to clean and disinfect, and there is no residual dead angle.

The surface is smooth (roughness Ra≤0.01μm), without pores or micropores, and the medical disinfectant can completely cover the surface. After cleaning, there is no disinfectant residue or microbial growth (such as the residual rate of bacteria and viruses ≤0.001%), which meets the requirements of medical aseptic operation.

Application scenario: optical detection components in hospital laboratory (such as the optical channel of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, which needs high-frequency disinfection without cross infection) and optical diagnostic equipment used in infectious ward (such as the lens of infrared temperature detector, which needs rapid disinfection without virus residue).

Fourth, strong customization and adaptability: meet the diverse needs of medical equipment.

There are various types of medical equipment (from large diagnostic instruments to micro-implanted devices). Quartz optical glass can be customized to meet different structure, size and functional requirements.

Can be processed into a complex optical structure, and is suitable for precision instruments.

It supports high-precision cutting (dimensional tolerance ±0.001mm), grinding and polishing (surface roughness Ra≤0.005μm), coating (such as antireflection film and antireflection film) and special-shaped processing (such as microlens array and optical prism), and can meet the miniaturization and integration requirements of medical equipment.

Application scenarios: optical lens of micro endoscope (diameter is only 2-3mm, which needs to be processed into micro spherical mirror) and optical coupler of laser surgical instrument (customized coating is needed to improve laser transmission efficiency).

It can be compatible with other medical materials and realize multifunctional integration.

It can be closely combined with metals (such as titanium alloy), ceramics (such as alumina ceramics) or polymer materials (such as medical silica gel), without interface peeling or performance interference, and can integrate "optical function+structural support+biological protection" into one.

Application scenarios: implantable optical sensor (Shi Ying glass optical window is combined with titanium alloy shell to realize in-vivo signal acquisition and structural protection), optical navigation component of medical robot (Shi Ying glass lens is combined with polymer protective shell to give consideration to optical performance and impact resistance).