Photonic crystal fiber sensors for minimally invasive surgical devices

The measurement of interaction forces in minimally invasive surgical devices, sensorized with photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sensors, is presented in this paper. Two types of PCF sensors are used: a tapered PCF interferometer and a microhole-collapsed PCF interferometer for the detection of interaction forces generated in surgical devices without the influence of ambient temperature variation. The demonstration devices used for force characterization are a laparoscopic scissor and a standard surgical scissor blade. The force sensitivity of each sensorized blade is examined and compared with fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-sensorized blades. Results show that the PCF-sensorized surgical blades outperform the blades fitted with the FBG sensors during static load measurement.