Development of an Optical Fiber Sensor for Angular Displacement Measurements
Issue title: Frontiers in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology – Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, 11–13 October 2013, Wuhan, China
Affiliations: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical and Health Science, Konkuk University, Chungju, South Korea | Department of Biomedical Engineering, Research Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Konkuk University, Chungju, South Korea | Department of Photonic Engineering, Chosun University, Gwangju, South Korea
Note: [] Adress for Correspondence: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical and Health Science, Konkuk University, 268 Chungwondaero, Chungju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, 380-701, South Korea, Tel.: +82 43 8403799; E-mail: jjun81@kku.ac.kr.
Abstract: For diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, the joint angle measurement of a patient after an accident or a surgical operation is significant for monitoring and evaluating the recovering process. This paper proposed an optical fiber sensor for the measurement of angular displacement. The effect of beveled fiber angle on the detected light signal was investigated to find an appropriate mathematical model. Beveled fiber tips redirected the light over a range of angles away from the fiber axis. Inverse polynomial models were applied to directly obtain and display the joint angle change in real time with the Lab-VIEW program. The actual joint angle correlated well with the calculated LabVIEW output angle over the test range. The proposed optical sensor is simple, cost effective, small in size, and can evaluate the joint angle in real time. This method is expected to be useful in the field of rehabilitation and sport science.
