Draw towers are used to create fibres, such as optical fibres, by heating and stretching a bulk material (or preform) to create long strands.

The design and composition of this preform results in different abilities of the fibres once drawn out, such as stronger fibres, more efficient data transmission, or a broader available bandwidths for carrying information.

Novel polymer optical fibres are manufactured in two steps. Firstly a preform is made from materials including TPU, PMMA and Polyurethane. These preforms can be made using one of two methods: Stacking or CNC milling. Wires can also be inserted into the preforms at this stage so that they can be co-drawn into the fibres.

These preforms are then drawn on the Fibre Draw Tower, often in two stages due to their initial size, using furnaces to melt them at a specific temperature. The primary stage will draw the preform diameter down to around 10mm while the secondary side will then draw this ~10mm preform down to fibre (typically around 125µm). Applications for these fibres can include medical devices and sensors. Current medical research areas include implanting fibres for nerve growth stimulation and using them for blood pressure monitoring.