As the fiber we were using for our garments was extremely thin, it required protection to ensure efficacious light delivery. We spent a lot of time mocking up and testing protection methods with a force gauge and predetermined bend radii.

After testing several methods, we settled on jacketing the fiber with a elastomer coating. Initially, we pulled fiber through custom extruded tubing at different durometers and diameters to test which was both effective and comfortable to a user. After completing initial testing, we began pouring silicone over our fiber with several custom molds we designed and fabricated.

This helped us settle on a final diameter and durometer to communicate with our partner overseas. From there, we had 1000s of meters of fiber overjacketed on an extrusion line to be incorporated into our test garments.