Support: EPSRC, Wellcome Trust
Bragg gratings recorded within an optical fibre (with a core diameter typically of 12 microns) have a great potential for use in minimally invasive medical sensing applications. We had a project in collaboration with Hammersmith Hospital with the aim of developing a linear array of grating temperature sensors that will be able to monitor the temperature profile within a region of the body. This device will be used for monitoring purposes during thermal therapy using ultrasound, microwaves or RF fields. In the latter two cases, the dielectricnature of the fibre is particularly important, as the fibre will not perturb the field or absorb appreciable amounts of electromagnetic energy. Also in collaboration with Hammersmith hospital, we investigated the use of Bragg gratings to monitor the field strength of the high frequency (typically MHz) ultrasonic radiation that is increasingly being used in medical imaging and treatment.
Staff Involved
Prof. D.A. Jackson
Dr. D.J.Webb
Dr. Y. Rao
Dr. N. Fisher
S.F. O’Neill