Fiber-optic gauge having one or more side-mounted sensors
First Claim
1. A sensing system adapted to measure one or more values corresponding to one or more physical parameters, the system comprising:
- a first sensor mounted onto a side of an optical fiber and optically coupled to said fiber, wherein, when interrogated with light coupled into the fiber, the first sensor generates an optical response corresponding to a first value of a first physical parameter to provide a measure of the first value.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fiber-optic gauge having at least one sensor mounted onto a side of an optical fiber. In one embodiment, the sensor is optically coupled to the fiber using a thin-film filter inserted into the fiber and preferably oriented at about 45 degrees with respect to the fiber axis. The sensor may be one of a plurality of sensors similarly mounted on and optically coupled to a single optical fiber. Each sensor is designed to change its reflectivity in response to a change in an external physical parameter, e.g., pressure, and is preferably adapted for interrogation with monochromatic light. The interrogating light has a plurality of wavelength components, each corresponding to a different sensor. Light reflected from the sensors is de-multiplexed and analyzed to measure the reflectivity of each sensor and to derive the corresponding value of the physical parameter, thereby providing a parameter measurement at each sensor location. Advantageously, gauges of the invention may be used in medical applications such as arterial catheterization to provide, e.g., real-time blood-pressure sampling around a damaged area of an artery, while decreasing the patient'"'"'s trauma compared to that inflicted by prior-art devices where multiple optical fibers are used for a similar measurement.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A sensing system adapted to measure one or more values corresponding to one or more physical parameters, the system comprising:
a first sensor mounted onto a side of an optical fiber and optically coupled to said fiber, wherein, when interrogated with light coupled into the fiber, the first sensor generates an optical response corresponding to a first value of a first physical parameter to provide a measure of the first value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An optical arrangement, comprising:
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an optical filter inserted into an optical fiber; and
an optical device mounted onto a side of the fiber and optically coupled to the fiber, wherein the filter is configured to direct light corresponding to the optical device between the fiber and the optical device. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A method of coupling an optical device to an optical fiber, comprising:
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inserting an optical filter into the fiber; and
mounting the optical device onto a side of the fiber, wherein;
the device is optically coupled to the fiber; and
the filter is configured to direct light corresponding to the device between the fiber and the device.
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Specification