Design and Development of Novel Fiber Bragg Grating based devices for various Biomedical applications

Abstract

Sensors have always been an integral part of human life. Apart from the numerous inherent sensors which the human body possesses, there are various man-made sensors which has been studied and implemented widely to fulfill specific requirements. The design and development of sensors have been carried out utilizing various sensing techniques involving electronical systems, mechanical systems and optical systems. Optical sensors possess advantages such as high speed, high sensitivity and electrical inertness which makes it suitable for many sensing applications including sensing under water, high electromagnetic regions, oil industries etc. Amongst the immense types of optical sensors explored so far, Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) has emerged as one of the most desirable optical sensors due to its multi-modal sensing capability, multiplexing capability, large operational bandwidth and high sensitivity. In its elementary form, FBGs are capable of sensing strain and temperature. However, FBGs can be utilized for various other sensing applications such as monitoring pressure, force, residual strain, viscosity, degree of cure, angle, etc. by employing suitable transduction techniques. In present era, FBGs are widely used in diverse sectors such as smart manufacturing industries, civil engineering, aerospace industry, underwater applications etc. which proves the diversity and versatility of the FBG sensors. Further, FBGs have also shown a great potential to be utilized as an effective methodology for bio-medical sensing applications owing to its numerous favoring characteristics such as non-toxicity, small size, chemical and electrical inertness etc. which makes FBG sensors apt for both in vivo and in vitro measurements. In this thesis work, novel Fiber Bragg Grating sensor-based devices have been designed and developed for newer applications in bio-medical sector. Elementarily, novel packaging methodologies for FBGs are devised to monitor the measurand by transducing it to a secondary parameter that can be acquired by ...