Patent ID: 7172326

Claim:
An illumination system comprising: a light source emitting light of a first sense and a second sense; a collimator that collimates light from the light source along an optical axis and within a maximum angle with respect to the optical axis; a filter that reflects light of the first sense, the filter positioned at an angle other than normal to the optical axis and less than 45 degrees from the optical axis; and an optical system positioned along the optical axis to reject light that passes through the filter beyond a predetermined maximum angle, the optical system comprising at least one fiber coupler and at least one optical fiber, the at least one fiber coupler coupling light that passes through the filter to the at least one optical fiber, and a material absorbing light of the first sense surrounding a portion of the fiber coupling elements, the material absorbing light of the first sense that escapes the at least one fiber coupler before reaching the at least one optical fiber.