Chirped fiber Bragg grating sensor for pressure and position sensing

We present a chirped fiber Bragg grating sensor that should be suitable for esophageal motility studies. The device uses the time-dependent group delay response of a chirped fiber Bragg grating to measure the peristaltic pressure wave that propagates down the esophagus with the transport of a bolus to the stomach. In contrast to existing transducers that only measure at discrete points, the output of this device is a continuous function of length along the esophagus. This paper presents ex-vivo experimental results. There is a linear relation between the wavelength location of the maximum phase perturbation and the position along the sensor where the perturbation occurred. The maximum phase change itself is directly proportional to the magnitude of the applied load at a specific position.