Application of Fibre Bragg Grating Sensors in Strain Monitoring and Fracture Recovery of Human Femur Bone

Abstract

Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors are gaining popularity in biomedical engineering. However, specific standards for in vivo testing for their use are absolutely limited. In this study, in vitro experimental tests were performed to investigate the behaviors and applications of gratings attached to intact and fractured thighbone for a range of compression loading (<300 N) based around some usual daily activities. The wavelength shifts and the corresponding strain sensitivities of the FBG sensors were measured to determine their effectiveness in monitoring the femoral fracture healing process. Four different arrangements of FBG sensors were selected to measure strains at different critical locations on the femoral sawbones surface. Data obtained for intact and plated sawbones were compared using both embedded longitudinal and coiled FBG arrays. Strains were measured close to the fracture, posterior linea aspera and popliteal surface areas, as well as at the proximal and distal ends of the synthetic femur; their responses are discussed herein. The gratings on the longitudinally secured FBG arrays were found to provide high levels of sensitivity and precise measurements, even for relatively small loads (<100 N). Nevertheless, embedding angled FBG sensors is essential to measure the strain generated by applied torque on the femur bone. The maximum recorded strain of the plated femur was 503.97 µε for longitudinal and −274.97 µε for coiled FBG arrays, respectively. These project results are important to configure effective arrangements and orientations of FBG sensors with respect to fracture position and fixation implant for future in vivo experiments.

Emergence of integrated biosensing-enabled digital healthcare devices

“…[137][138][139][140][141][142][143][144][145] Applications include carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) optical fibers, silicon carbide sensors, smartphone-based colorimetric biosensors, molecularly imprinted sensors, flexible sensors, piezoelectric ceramics sensors, gas sensing, AI-based sensing, pattern recognition sensor arrays, BioMEMS sensor, electro-immunosensing, strain monitoring, and thermal biosensing application for biomedical healthcare. [146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156][157][158] Recently developed biosensing platforms offering both the biocompatibility of sensor materials and technologies as well as a variety of functions are discussed. Various sensor technologies' biocompatibility, functionality, and applications [96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106] are outlined in Fig.…”

“…Table 5 details the biocompatibilities of some sensor technologies, as well as their functionality and applications. 129–158 Biocompatible materials for living cells, bone, biological fluid, yak hair, cellular loading, membrane systems for biomedical and electronics purposes have already studied. 129–136 Functionalities related to cytotoxic, DNA binding, photocatalytic, H 2 O 2 detection, antioxidant, transcutaneous measurement, eye-movement tracking, physiological conditions, mitochondria sensors for metabolic state, nanocomposites, gas permeability, DNA methylation, and cancer sensing are important research areas for healthcare devices.…”

“…137–145 Applications include carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) optical fibers, silicon carbide sensors, smartphone-based colorimetric biosensors, molecularly imprinted sensors, flexible sensors, piezoelectric ceramics sensors, gas sensing, AI-based sensing, pattern recognition sensor arrays, BioMEMS sensor, electro-immunosensing, strain monitoring, and thermal biosensing application for biomedical healthcare. 146–158…”

Recent advancements of fiber Bragg grating sensors in biomedical application: a review

“…For any changes in strain level due to application of load resulted in displacement of bone which shows how relatively bone is recovering. This load bearing activity should be monitored very carefully to prevent overloading or damage [ 18 ]. In the next context, Abro et al discussed on smart wearable belt for monitoring knee joint postures using Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor.…”

Submarine Optical Fiber Sensing System for the Real-Time Monitoring of Depth, Vibration, and Temperature

“…By employing the architecture of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) or fiber interferometry, temperature, pressure, vibration, and even chemical parameters could be measured with high precision and resolution. The sensing systems consisting of those sensors have been employed successfully in structural health monitoring in industries of railway (Liu et al, 2017), oil and gas (Qiao et al, 2017), biomedical engineering (Najafzadeh et al, 2020), and civil engineering (Wu et al, 2021). To achieve high sensing performance, sensing configurations based on the detection of either the spectral wavelength (Leitão et al, 2021) or the optical intensity (Leal-Junior et al, 2018;Leal-Junior et al, 2019) are proposed.…”