Optical fibre sensors embedded into medical textiles for monitoring of respiratory movements in MRI environment

The potential impact of optical fibre sensors embedded into medical textiles for the monitoring of respiratory movements in MRI environment is presented. Preliminary investigations of the feasibility of sensing respiration movements with a POF OTDR are reported. In addition, a macro-bending sensor based on a periodic design is demonstrated and successfully implemented using a narrow fabric production process. It allows monitoring human abdominal breathing movements with a very simple monitoring set-up.