Fiber Bragg Grating-Based Garment For Monitoring Human Body Temperature

Abstract Body temperature provides an insight into the physiological state of a person and body temperature changes reflect much information about human health. In the present study, a garment for monitoring human body temperature based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors is reported. The FBG sensor was encapsulated by a PMMA tube and calibrated in the thermostatic water bath. It has good vibration resistance and the wavelength changes about 0-1pm at 0.5-80Hz vibration frequency. The path of optical fiber was discussed and its bending radius was equal or greater than 20mm, so that the lower bending loss can be achieved when the garment was stretched on the human body. The FBG sensor, the optical fiber and garment were integrated together using hot melt glue by the electric iron and the hot press machine. Through experiments of monitoring human body temperature, the sensor can reach the human armpit temperature in about 15min with the upper arm close to the torso. For it is immune to electromagnetic interferences, the smart garment can be used in some special environments such as ultrasonography, magnetic resonance (MR) and aerospace.