This paper presents the implementation of power fluctuation compensation for an intensity-based optical fibre bending sensor aimed at monitoring human spine bending in a clinical environment. To compensate for the light intensity changes from the sensor light source, a reference signal was provided via the light reflection from an aluminum foil surface fixed at a certain distance from the source fibre end tips. From the results, it was found that the investigated sensor compensation technique was capable of achieving a 2° resolution for a bending angle working range between 0° and 20°. The study also suggested that the output voltage ratio has a 0.55% diversion due to input voltage variation between 2.9 V and 3.4 V and a 0.25% output drift for a 2 h measurement. With the achieved sensor properties, human spine monitoring in a clinical environment can potentially be implemented using this approach with power fluctuation compensation.
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative review of intensity-modulated fiber optic sensors with non-optical sensors for health monitoring applications, from the current research activities in the area. Design/methodology/approach -A range of published research work in sensor design for four different health monitoring applications, including, lumbar spine bending, upper and lower limb motion tracking, respiration and heart rate monitoring, are presented and discussed in terms of their respective advantages and limitations. Findings -This paper provides information on the various types of sensors applied into the health monitoring area. The sensing techniques of the fiber optic sensor for the stated applications are focused and compared in details to highlight their contributions. Originality/value -A comparative review of published work is illustrated in an informative table content, to allow a clear idea of the current sensing approaches for health monitoring applications.
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