The transducer comprises a sensor element mounted on the tip of an optical fibre. The functional principle is that light passes through the fibre and is reflected in a cavity inside the sensor element. The height of the cavity is relative to the external pressure that the sensor element is being exposed to. When the pressure surrounding the sensor element is changing, the reflected light signal will change. A control unit receives the reflected light signal and processes it to a readable pressure value.
The transducer is physically designed as a pressure sensitive optical interferometer according to the Fabry-Perot principle. The sensor element is produced in silicon using microstructure processes originating from the semiconductor industry. The optical fibre (approx. 0,3 mm diameter) is made of glass and has special coatings.
Today, the instrument is mainly used in for medical applications (preclinical and clinical). In physiological monitoring during preclinical research it can measure, for example, the pressure in the lungs and airways. In clinical applications, it can measure bladder pressure in paraplegic patients, among other things. It can also be used to develop models that link pressure to different kind of injuries.
However, the instrument is also expected to have a large potential for industrial applications. The technology is suitable for a wide range of industrial processes requiring the measurement of pressure changes and gradients, e.g. in applications involving encapsulated gases or liquids, especially those that must pass filters or valves - in the food processing, aerospace, or in oil or gas pumping facilities. It can be used in processes where sensitivity, accuracy, reliability, small size, flexibility, and/or lack of sensitivity to electromagnetic fields, is important. See also "Other market applications" below.
Innovative Aspects:
- Quick and simple start-up procedure. No specific preparation, like pre-soaking of the transducer, is needed.
- Factory calibrated from start. It doesn't need any further calibration. The only thing required is an automatic "zero baseline" set against the ambient air pressure before you start measuring.
- Fully MRI compatible and completely insensitive to any EM/radio waves or electrical noise. In the MRI lab you can perform real-time monitoring and simultaneously record both visual and physiological effects of for example a new pharmaceutical. The pressure signal can also be used for triggering the MRI scanner for improved image quality and movie sequences.
- Extremely fast (but still extremely precise). It can record ultra-fast trauma events, for example intracranial pressure events caused by collisions.
- Can measure pressure both in gas and in fluids.
- An easy-to-use self-explanatory user interface. Instead of spending time learning and supervising complicated preparation, calibration and operating routines the user can concentrate on the experiment and measurement itself.
