Design Of A 3D Radial Artery Pulse Acquisition And Analysis System Using A Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Array

Pulse diagnosis is one of the four diagnostic methods used in Traditional Chinses Medicine(TCM).The radial artery wrist pulse is proven to be a rich source of information about the cardiovascular system of the human body.This study proposes the design of a novel pulse acquisition system using a Fiber Bragg Gratings(FBGs)sensor 3x3+1 array with a durable and flexible transfer structure to achieve better sensitivity and eliminate crosstalk between FBGs.The proposed device prototype is designed with mechanical and electronic hardware with nine degrees of freedom for more accurate pulse detection.The device is designed to mimic the pulse-taking conducted by an actual physician based on the three-fingers-nine-indicators theory(TPNI)to detect the pulses at three different locations(Cun,Guan,Chi)simultaneously or only one location at a time.The 3x3+1 FBG sensor array of 1.6cm2 is mounted on three robotic fingertips to detect and create 3D pulse images of the desired location.A MATLAB codded graphical user interface(GUI)is also devolved to manage the data and control the device for ease of use.The designed FBG sensor achieved a sensitivity of 2.5 pm/kPa,which is much better than the bare FBG sensitivity of 3.04 pm/MPa.The 3D robotic fingers move and apply three different levels of pressure(Fu,Zhong,and Chen)on each point.The acquired 3D pulse images provide the arterial pulse’s spatial properties(width,length,and peak).The MATLAB GUI reads the recorded data files,generates the desired 3D pulse images,manages the patient data,saves/deletes data,and calculates vital signs such as heart rate,systole,and diastole blood pressure.