Fiber Bragg Grating for temperature monitoring during medical radiofrequency treatments

In this work, it is proposed the integration of fiber optic sensors with commercial medical instrumentation, for temperature monitoring during tumor radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFTA) treatments. The heat propagation over the area under treatment is measured by means of a specific configuration, consisting of several Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors properly bounded to the RFTA probe and being positioned close to the region reached by RF electrodes. Our ex-vivo experiments on ex vivo animal liver and kidney, confirm that we were able to monitor in real time the temperature increase during different and consecutive RF discharges performed with the laparoscopic bipolar device Habib 4x, with a temperature resolution of 0.1 degrees C and a spatial resolution of 5 mm. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.