Design and development of Fiber Bragg Grating sensing plate for plantar strain measurement and postural stability analysis

This paper describes an ab initio design and development of a novel Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor based strain sensing plate for the measurement of plantar strain distribution in human foot. The primary aim of this work is to study the feasibility of usage of FBG sensors in the measurement of plantar strain in the foot; in particular, to spatially resolve the strain distribution in the foot at different regions such as fore-foot, mid-foot and hind-foot. This study also provides a method to quantify and compare relative postural stability of different subjects under test; in addition, traditional accelerometers have been used to record the movements of center of gravity (second lumbar vertebra) of the subject and the results obtained have been compared against the outcome of the postural stability studies undertaken using the developed FBG plantar strain sensing plate. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

pH sensing by single and multi-layer hydrogel coated Fiber Bragg Grating

In this paper we show a novel chemo-mechanical-optical sensing mechanism in single and multi-layer hydrogel coated Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) and demonstrate specific application in pH activated processes. The sensing device is based on the ionizable monomers inside the hydrogel which reversibly dissociates as a function of the pH and consequently resulting in osmotic pressure difference between the gel and the solution. This pressure gradient causes the hydrogel to deform which in turn induces secondary strain on the FBG sensor resulting in shift in the Bragg wavelength. We also report on the sensitivity factor of single and multilayer hydrogel coated FBG at various different pH.

Evaluation of airline exercises prescribed to avoid deep vein thrombosis using fiber Bragg grating sensors

Various leg exercises have been recommended to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a condition where a blood clot forms in the deep veins, especially during long-haul flights. Accessing the benefit of each of these exercises in avoiding the DVT, which can be fatal, is important in the context of suggesting the correct and the most beneficial exercises. Present work aims at demonstrating the fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based sensing methodology for measuring surface strains generated on the skin of the calf muscle to evaluate the suggested airline exercises to avoid DVT. As the dataset in the experiment involves multiple subjects performing these exercises, an inertial measurement unit has been used to validate the repetitiveness of each of the exercises. The surface strain on the calf muscle obtained using the FBG sensor, which is a measure of the calf muscle deformation, has been compared against the variation of blood velocity in the femoral vein of the thigh measured using a commercial electronic-phased array color Doppler ultrasound system. Apart from analyzing the effectiveness of suggested exercises, a new exercise which is more effective in terms of strain generated to avoid DVT is proposed and evaluated. (C) 2013 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Optical bio-sensing devices based on etched fiber Bragg gratings coated with carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide along with a specific dendrimer

We demonstrate that etched fiber Bragg gratings (eFBGs) coated with single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphene oxide (GO) are highly sensitive and accurate biochemical sensors. Here, for detecting protein concanavalin A (Con A), mannose-functionalized poly(propyl ether imine) (PETIM) dendrimers (DMs) have been attached to the SWNTs (or GO) coated on the surface modified eFBG. The dendrimers act as multivalent ligands, having specificity to detect lectin Con A. The specificity of the sensor is shown by a much weaker response (factor of similar to 2500 for the SWNT and similar to 2000 for the GO coated eFBG) to detect non specific lectin peanut agglutinin. DM molecules functionalized GO coated eFBG sensors showed excellent specificity to Con A even in the presence of excess amount of an interfering protein bovine serum albumin. The shift in the Bragg wavelength (Delta lambda(B)) with respect to the lambda(B) values of SWNT (or GO)-DM coated eFBG for various concentrations of lectin follows Langmuir type adsorption isotherm, giving an affinity constant of similar to 4 x 10(7) M-1 for SWNTs coated eFBG and similar to 3 x 10(8) M-1 for the GO coated eFBG. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sensitive detection of C-reactive protein using optical fiber Bragg gratings

An accurate and highly sensitive sensor platform has been demonstrated for the detection of C-reactive protein (CRP) using optical fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The CRP detection has been carried out by monitoring the shift in Bragg wavelength (Delta lambda(B)) of an etched FBG (eFBG) coated with an anti-CRP antibody (aCRP)-graphene oxide (GO) complex. The complex is characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. A limit of detection of 0.01 mg/L has been achieved with a linear range of detection from 0.01 mg/L to 100 mg/L which includes clinical range of CRP. The eFBG sensor coated with only aCRP (without GO) show much less sensitivity than that of aCRP-GO complex coated eFBG. The eFBG sensors show high specificity to CRP even in the presence of other interfering factors such as urea, creatinine and glucose. The affinity constant of similar to 1.1 x 10(10) M-1 has been extracted from the data of normalized shift (Delta lambda(B)/lambda(B)) as a function of CRP concentration. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nanomaterials coated multiplexed fiber Bragg grating for multiparameter sensing

Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors have been extensively used for strain and temperature sensing. However, there is still a need to measure multiple environmental parameters with a single sensor system. We demonstrate a multiplexed FBG sensor with various nano materials (polyallylamine-amino-carbon-nanotube, carbon nanotubes, polyelectrolyte and metals) coated onto the surface of the core/cladding FBG for sensing multiple environmental parameters such as pH (64 pm/pH), protein concentration (5 pm/mu g/ml), temperature (15 pm/degrees C), humidity (31 pm/% RH), gas concentration (7 pm/1000 ppm), and light intensity (infrared: 33 pm/mW, visible: 12 pm/mW and UV: 1 pm/mW) utilizing the same FBG based platform.

Thermo-optic Degradation of Single-Modedness in Active LMA fibers and Simple Compensation Mechanisms

We demonstrate significant thermo-optic degradation of single-modedness in active large mode area fibers due to heat generation in the fiber. We propose and demonstrate through simulations, simple compensation mechanisms using custom length dependent fiber coiling.

Influence of Humidity on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors

We demonstrate the influence of the relative humidity (RH) on the wavelength of fiber Bragg grating sensors (FBGS), performing tests with five FBGS at different humidity and temperature conditions. These tests were performed in a climate chamber whose RH changes according to a scheduled profile from 30% to 90%, in steps of 10%. These profiles were repeated for a wide range of temperatures from to , in steps of . Two different types of instrumentation methods have been tested, spot welding and epoxy bonding, in two different materials, steel and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). We discuss the results for each type of sensor and instrumentation method by analyzing the linearity of the Bragg wavelength with RH and temperature.

Specklegram in a multiple-mode fiber and its dependence on longitudinal modes of the laser source

A specklegram in a multimode fiber (MMF) has successfully been used as a sensor for detecting external disturbance. Our experiments showed that the sensitivity in the sensor with a multiple longitudinal-mode laser as its source was much higher than that with a single longitudinal-mode laser. In addition, the near-field pattern observations indicated that the coupling between different transverse modes in the MMF is quite weak. Based on the experimental results, a theoretical model for the speckle formation is proposed, taking a bend-caused phase factor into consideration. It is shown in the theoretical analysis that the interferences between different longitudinal modes make a larger contribution to the specklegram signals. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America.

Fiber grating sensors for high-temperature measurement

Two fiber grating sensors for high-temperature measurements are proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The interrogation technologies of the sensor systems are all simple, low cost but effective. In the first sensor system, the sensor head is comprised of one fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and two metal rods. The lengths of the rods are different from each other. The coefficients of thermal expansion of the rods are also different from each other. The FBG will be strained by the sensor head when the temperature to be measured changes. The temperature is measured based on the wavelength-shifts of the FBG induced by the strain. In the second sensor system, a long-period fiber grating (LPG) is used as the high-temperature sensor head. The LPG is very-high-temperature stable CO2-Aaser-induced grating and has a linear function of wavelength-temperature in the range of 0 - 800 degrees C. A dynamic range of 0 - 800 degrees C and a resolution of 1 degrees C have been obtained by either the first or the second sensor system. The experimental results agree with theoretical analyses. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Specklegram in a grapefruit fiber and its response to external mechanical disturbance in a single-multiple-single mode fiber structure

Specklegram in multimode fiber has successfully been used as a sensor for detecting mechanical disturbance. Speckles in a multimode pure silica grapefruit fiber are observed and compared to that of a step-index multimode fiber, showing different features between them. The sensitivities to external disturbance of two kinds of fiber were measured, based on single-multiple-single mode (SMS) fiber structure. Experimental results show that the grapefruit fiber shows higher sensitivity than does the step-index multimode fiber. The transmission spectrum of the grapefruit fiber was measured as well, showing some oscillation features that are significantly different from that of a step-index multimode fiber. The experiments may provide suggestions to understand the mechanisms of light propagation in grapefruit fibers. (D 2008 Optical Society of America.

Stabilization of optical Fabry-Perot sensor by active feedback control of diode laser

This paper presents the design and characterization of a fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI) acoustic wave detector with its Q point being stabilized actively. The relationship between the reflectivity of the F-P cavity facets and cavity length was theoretically analyzed, and high visibility of 100% was realized by optimized design of the F-P cavity. To prevent the drifting of the Q point, a new stabilization method by actively feedback controlling of the diode laser is proposed and demonstrated, indicating the method is simple and easy operating. Measurement shows that good tracing of Q point was effectively realized. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stable single frequency and single polarization DFB fiber lasers operated at 1053 nm

Stable single-frequency and single-polarization distributed-feedback (DFB) fiber laser was realized by giving a pressure on the phase shift region of the fiber grating. The output wavelength of the DFB fiber laser is 1053 nm. When the pump power of 980 nm laser diode is 100 and 254 mW, the output power can reach 8.3 and 37.1 mW and the polarization extinction ratio was 26 and 20 dB, respectively. After chopped by Acousto-optic modulator (0.3 Hz), the pulse peak value variance is 4.65%(peak to peak) and 1.098% (RMS) for 31 min. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A study of a Q-switched double-clad ytterbium-doped fiber laser with amplifying effect

A high repetition rate ytterbium-doped double-clad (YDDC) fiber laser with amplifying effect is described by using acousto-optic modulator. The characteristic of Q-switched pulses are studied with accurate control of opening gate time of modulator. The stable Q-switched pulses with tens of nanoseconds width can be observed at high repetition rate varied from 50 kHz to 500 kHz using this laser. The stable operation area of the Q-switched fiber laser is discussed and the analysis results agree well with that of the experiment. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of Humidity on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors

We demonstrate the influence of the relative humidity (RH) on the wavelength of fiber Bragg grating sensors (FBGS), performing tests with five FBGS at different humidity and temperature conditions. These tests were performed in a climate chamber whose RH changes according to a scheduled profile from 30% to 90%, in steps of 10%. These profiles were repeated for a wide range of temperatures from 10 degrees C to 70 degrees C, in steps of 10 degrees C. Two different types of instrumentation methods have been tested, spot welding and epoxy bonding, in two different materials, steel and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). We discuss the results for each type of sensor and instrumentation method by analyzing the linearity of the Bragg wavelength with RH and temperature.