ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a contemporary review of classification, working, and emerging application areas of Fiber-Optic Sensors (FOSs) in the field of medicine. Most of the optical fibers are fabricated using either silica or special polymers like polymethylmethacrylate; both of these materials have intrinsic properties that make them valuable for health-care applications. Fiber-optic industries make customized biocompatible and nontoxic fibers for medical applications that can be used for in vivo measurements and can be left in their position for repeated or continuous monitoring. During the 1970s and 1980s, the use of optical fibers to deliver laser power for imaging, therapy, and surgery became widespread; however, their applications as sensing elements were in initial experimental stages. For medical applications, optical fibers are made with biocompatible materials. Standard fibers such as single-mode optical fibers have a diameter of 125 µm comparable to normal surgical suture.
