A Novel Catheter Distal Contact Force Sensing for Cardiac Ablation Based on Fiber Bragg Grating with Temperature Compensation

Objective: To accurately achieve distal contact force, a novel temperature-compensated sensor is developed and integrated into an atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation catheter. Methods: A dual elastomer-based dual FBGs structure is used to differentiate the strain on the two FBGs to achieve temperature compensation, and the design is optimized and validated by finite element simulation. Results: The designed sensor has a sensitivity of 90.5 pm/N, resolution of 0.01 N, and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.02 N and 0.04 N for dynamic force loading and temperature compensation, respectively, and can stably measure distal contact forces with temperature disturbances. Conclusion: Due to the advantages, i.e., simple structure, easy assembly, low cost, and good robustness, the proposed sensor is suitable for industrial mass production.