Successful fiber sensor for medical applications

The use of fiber optics in communications and data transmission applications has become wide spread in the last decade. At the same time fiber optic sensors have not gained wide commercial acceptance even though many are known and indeed numerous U.S. and foreign patents have been granted. Camino Laboratories a small medical device concern has successfully marketed a fiber optic pressure monitoring system and become a leader in the area of intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring. Some curiosity about the company and its products has been expressed. This presentation will briefly give a background of the company, an explanation of the product, an account of the transfer from concept to volume manufacture and a word on limiting drawbacks of an intensity modulating fiber optic sensor.