Fiber Optical Micro-Sensor for Measuring Tendon Forces

描述（由申请人提供）：准确测量体内肌腱力的能力将对研究组织特性、推进辅助技术和进一步加深我们对人类神经肌肉控制系统的科学理解产生广泛的影响。肌电假肢和功能性电刺激装置可以利用闭环控制策略，从而恢复残疾人的运动功能。此外，研究人员可以直接准确地研究软组织特性、神经肌肉功能和运动表现，而不必依赖于这些系统的不准确的数值近似。微型体内传感器也有可能在外科手术过程中提供反馈，比如肢体再附着和心脏治疗。在该项目的第一阶段，一种新型的基于光学的传感器被开发出来，在实现这一目标方面显示出很大的希望。我们的装置，可以小型化到直径小于500微米，是基于一个改进的光纤布拉格光栅（MFBG）光学应变传感器。通过一系列的实验，包括测试合成肌腱、动物肌腱和人类肌腱，MFBG传感器已经证明了精确测量肌腱力的能力，与其他技术相比，具有许多重要的优势。这些包括：(1)测量肌腱力的能力，而不受过去困扰光学方法的皮肤工件的影响；(2)测量非常局部的力的能力；(3)温度变化的自动补偿；(4)根据应用控制传感器的大小和灵敏度的能力。我们相信，这种新的传感器将在研究和商业环境中带来基础和科学的进步。第二阶段项目的总体目标是基于第一阶段开发的新型光学力传感器构建和测试一个强大的商业上可行的测量系统。在第二阶段项目结束时，我们的意图是拥有一个被证明是安全、有效并准备进行人体测试的系统。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to accurately measure in vivo tendon forces would have a broad impact on studying tissue properties, advancing assistive technologies, and furthering our scientific understanding of the human neuromuscular control system. Myoelectric prosthetics and functional electrical stimulation devices could utilize closed-loop control strategies, resulting in restored motor function in disabled populations. Furthermore, researchers could accurately study soft tissue properties, neuromuscular function, and motor performance directly, rather than having to rely on inaccurate, numerical approximations of these systems. It may also be possible for miniature in vivo sensors to provide feedback during surgical procedures such as limb re-attachment and cardiac treatments. During Phase I of this project, a novel optically based sensor was developed that has shown great promise in achieving this goal. Our device, which can be miniaturized to less than 500 microns in diameter, is based on a modified fiber Bragg grating (MFBG) optical strain sensor. Through a series of experiments that included testing synthetic, animal, and human tendons, the MFBG sensor has demonstrated the ability to accurately measure tendon forces with a number of important advantages over other techniques. These include, (1) the ability to measure tendon forces without being influenced by skin artifacts that have plagued optically based approaches in the past, (2) the ability to measure very localized forces, (3) automatic compensation of temperature variations and (4) the ability to control the size and sensitivity of the sensor depending on the application. We are confident that this new sensor will result in fundamental and scientific advances in both research and commercial settings. The general aim of this Phase II project is to construct and test a robust commercially viable measurement system based on the new optical force sensor developed during Phase I. At the conclusion of the Phase II project our intention is to have a system proven to be safe, effective and ready for human testing.