Fiber Optic Sensorized Tools for Cardiology Applications

描述(由申请人提供)：这项建议解决了涉及导管和机器人辅助的微创手术工具的医疗程序中的一个关键问题：末端执行器缺乏敏感性。目前的导管和机器人辅助工具为外科医生提供了前所未有的接触心脏等器官的途径。专门的光学望远镜或光纤也可以提供高质量的操作现场视图。然而，它们不能为探测和消融异常组织等提供触觉。制造与体内应用兼容并具有足够灵敏度以测量精细接触力的微型传感器封装的挑战阻碍了它们的应用。我们提出了一种将光纤布拉格光栅(FBG)传感器嵌入到微型导管结构中的方法。直接的焦点是射频消融的导管，具有准确的力反馈，使医生能够精确控制尖端的力，不仅使病变大小更可预测和可控，而且还将血管穿孔的机会降至最低。与其他传感器相比，FBG传感器具有几个优点：它们在化学上是惰性的，物理上是坚固的；它们不受电磁干扰，并且它们对小应变具有很高的灵敏度。位于一根光纤上的多个传感器的光学多路复用器允许极其紧凑的设备设计。此外，光纤可以测量红外发射/吸收特性，并在外科医生的指尖提供新颖的现场临床光谱和其他诊断工具。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal addresses a critical problem in medical procedures involving catheters and robot- assisted minimally invasive surgical tooling: the lack of sensitivity at the end-effector. Current catheters and robot-assisted tools provide surgeons with unprecedented access to organs such as the heart. Specialized optical scopes or fibers can also provide a high-quality view of the operating site. However, they do not provide a sense of touch for probing and ablating abnormal tissues, etc. The challenges of producing miniature sensor packages, compatible with in-vivo applications and sufficiently sensitive to measure delicate contact forces, have precluded their application. We propose an approach that involves embedding optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors into the structure of miniature catheters. The immediate focus is catheters for radiofrequency ablation with accurate force feedback allowing physicians to control tip forces precisely not only to make the lesion size more predictable and controllable, but also to minimize the chance of vascular perforation. In comparison to other sensors, FBG sensors have several advantages: they are chemically inert and physically robust; they are immune to electromagnetic interference, and they have high sensitivity to small strains. Optical multiplexing for multiple sensors located on a single fiber allows an extremely compact device design. In addition, optical fibers can measure infrared emission/absorption properties and provide novel in-situ clinical spectroscopy and other diagnostic tools at the surgeon's fingertips.