Development of a Millinewton FBG-Based Distal Force Sensor for Intravascular Interventions

Abstract

Application of intravascular catheterization, a vital task used in minimally invasive vascular surgery, has been hindered by lack of distal force sensor with miniaturized size and millinewton sensing capability. Thus, development of distal sensor for evaluating tool-vessel force interactions during robot-assisted intravascular interventions remains a research area in minimally invasive surgery. In this study, a millinewton force sensor is developed by integrating optical fibers with bragg grating in an isotonic 3D-printed flexure. The miniaturized sensor is calibrated in an experiment for 1D distal force sensing application in PCI procedures, and performance of the sensor is evaluated against that of direct FBG-pasting method. Results from the study shows that the designed sensor shows a higher repeatability and stability with a millinewton resolution in the flexure compartment. Thus, it can be suitably used for distal catheter-tip force sensing during intravascular catheterization.