The method can include a muscle deforming a fiber path and activating a joint of the mammal, circulating electricity along the fiber, along the length of the fiber path, generating a movement signal including monitoring a change of impedance of the fiber stemming from the deformation of the muscle path during said deformation of the fiber path, determining a coefficient of correlation value of successive portions of the movement signal associated to corresponding, successive, time windows, including ascertaining a degree of similitude between the corresponding portion and a corresponding movement template, and generating an indication of muscle fatigue based on said coefficient of correlation values.

A fiber optic tracking sensor includes an outer tube, a plurality of optical fibers within the outer tube and including a central optical fiber and a plurality of additional optical fibers, and one or more structural members within the outer tube and configured to provide a spacing between the plurality of optical fibers such that the central optical fiber is positioned along a central longitudinal axis of the outer tube and the plurality of additional optical fibers are spaced apart from one another and from the central optical fiber.

Embodiments for crossing an occlusion by controlling a guide with the aid of optical coherence tomography (OCT) data are described. Embodiments include transmitting one or more beams of radiation via one or more waveguides on a flexible substrate within a guide wire. One or more beams of scattered or reflected radiation may be received from a sample via one or more waveguides. Depth-resolved optical data of the sample may be generated based on the received beams of scattered or reflected radiation. The depth-resolved data may be used for determining at least one of a distance between the guide wire and a wall of the artery and a distance between the guide wire and an occlusion within the artery. A position of the guide wire within the artery may then be controlled based on the determined distance or distances.

An ablation catheter system configured with a compact force sensor at a distal end for detection of contact forces exerted on an end effector. The force sensor includes fiber optics operatively coupled with reflecting members on a structural member. In one embodiment, the optical fibers and reflecting members cooperate with the deformable structure to provide a variable gap interferometer for sensing deformation of the structural member due to contact force. In another embodiment, a change in the intensity of the reflected light is detected to measure the deformation. The measured deformations are then used to compute a contact force vector. In some embodiments, the force sensor is configured to passively compensate for temperature changes that otherwise lead to erroneous force indications. In other embodiments, the system actively compensates for errant force indications caused by temperature changes by measuring certain local temperatures of the structural member.

The invention relates to a system for determining blood flow within a blood vessel (18). A fluid infusion unit (4, 10, 11) continuously infuses a fluid into the blood vessel, and a temperature values determining unit (14, 21) determines simultaneously a first temperature value at a first location and a second temperature value at a second location such that the first temperature value is indicative of the temperature of the fluid and the second temperature value is indicative of the temperature of a mixture of the fluid and the blood. The blood flow is determined based on the measured first and second temperature values and the infusion rate. This kind of determining the blood flow leads to an increased accuracy and is less cumbersome than known techniques requiring a movement of a temperature sensor for measuring temperatures at different locations.

Aspects of the present disclosure are directed toward systems and methods for detecting force applied to a distal tip of a medical catheter. A medical catheter includes a deformable body near a distal tip of the catheter that deforms in response to a force applied at the distal tip, and a sensor detects various components of the deflection. Processor circuitry may then, based on the detected components of the deformation, determine a force applied to the distal tip of the catheter.

A medical device that includes a carrier member, one or more operative components disposed in the carrier member, an optical fiber at least partly disposed in the carrier member, and at least one fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor array associated with the optical fiber and disposed in the carrier member. The carrier member includes an insertion end and side walls that contact the subject's body during positioning of the carrier member in the subject's body. The at least one FBG sensor array measures contact forces at one or both of the insertion end and along the side walls of the carrier member during positioning of the carrier member in the subject's body. A multi-core optical fiber configured for use in a medical device for positioning in a subject's body is also provided. A system and method for guiding positioning of a medical device in a subject's body is also provided.

A posture measuring device, an intelligent cushion and an intelligent seat are disclosed. The sitting posture measuring device comprises two fiber optic sensors; a signal processing unit electrically connected to the two fiber optic sensors respectively; and a power supply unit electrically connected to the signal processing unit. The sitting posture measuring device further comprises a prompting unit and/or a wireless communications unit electrically connected to the signal processing unit. The two fiber optic sensors are configured from left to right or from front to back. The fiber optic sensors detect changes in optical signals generated from changes in surface pressure on the sensors, and the signal processing unit analyzes a posture of a user on the basis of changes in optical signals generated from changes in surface pressure on the sensors.

A medical instrument includes a first device (108) including shape-sensed flexible instrument, a second device (102) disposed over the first device and a third device (109) disposed over the first device and a portion of the second device. The second and third devices include a geometric relationship such that a position of the second device and the third device is determined from shape sensing information of the first device and the geometric relationship.

Embodiments are directed to a patch for coupling a watch body to a body of a user. The patch can include a substrate formed from a flexible material and an adhesive disposed over a surface of the substrate and configured to couple the patch to the body of the user. The patch can include a watch-mounting component disposed over a surface of the substrate and configured to couple the watch body to the patch. The patch can include one or more sensing elements, each having a terminal configured to contact the user, an interface element configured to interface with a watch sensing element of the watch body, and a conduit operably coupling the first terminal to the first interface element. The sensing elements can transmit signals to the watch body and the watch body can determine a physiological measurement of the user using the first and second signals.