Development of an optical fiber sensor for angular displacement measurements

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Sensing
• Rehabilitation Technology

Background:

• Accurate joint angle measurement is vital for assessing patient recovery post-injury or surgery.
• Existing methods may lack real-time capabilities or cost-effectiveness for widespread clinical use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a simple, cost-effective optical fiber sensor for real-time joint angle measurement.
• To investigate the influence of beveled fiber angles on sensor performance.
• To establish a mathematical model for accurate angular displacement calculation.

Main Methods:

• An optical fiber sensor with beveled fiber tips was designed to measure angular displacement.
• The relationship between beveled fiber angle and detected light signal was analyzed.
• Inverse polynomial models and Lab-VIEW software were employed for real-time data acquisition and analysis.

Main Results:

• Beveled fiber tips effectively redirected light, enabling angular measurement.
• A strong correlation was observed between actual joint angles and Lab-VIEW output angles.
• The proposed sensor demonstrated real-time evaluation capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The developed optical fiber sensor provides a simple, cost-effective, and real-time solution for joint angle measurement.
• This technology shows significant potential for applications in rehabilitation and sports science.
• The inverse polynomial model accurately translates optical signals into joint angle data.