Chapter 11 - Smart walker's instrumentation and development with compliant optical fiber sensors

Abstract

This chapter presents two practical studies involving the design and experimentation of POF-based smart devices for instrumentation of a smart walker. The first one addresses the assessment of physiological parameters of individuals through the implementation of a sensor system consists of two devices. The first one is a smart textile that is used to detect breathing and heart rates as well as the cadence of the user. The second device consists of a POF-based sensor to be installed in the walker's handles that provides heart rate and oximetry assessment, important information for remote monitoring of patients and for e-health applications. The second study presents the development, characterization, and application of a POFBGs array in CYTOP fibers on the instrumentation of the same smart walker with the purpose of performing structural health monitoring, the detection of the user's movement intention, the estimation of the user's gait cadence, and the possibility of aiding on the mapping of structured environment using the frequency response of the FBGs array In all these applications, optical fiber sensors compactness and multiplexing capabilities offer important advantages over the conventional commercial solutions.