Luna’s innovative fiber optic pressure microsensor is based upon on Luna’s patented extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (EFPI) technique. The basic physics governing the operation of these sensors makes them relatively tolerant or immune to the effects of high-temperature, high-EMI, and highly corrosive environments. Additionally, Luna’s pressure microsensor is both highly sensitive – sub-mmHg resolution with a range up to 500 mmHg and miniature – outer diameter of only 250 microns with a length of less than 1mm. The combination of these features makes Luna’s pressure microsensor ideal for medical applications where small size, high sensitivity and accuracy, EMI immunity, and survivability (e.g. sterilizable – steam, ethylene oxide, gamma irradiation) are important.Â
Critical advantages include:
- Highly sensitive – Changes in pressure as small as 0.3 mmHg can be measured
- Accurate – Pressures can be measured with accuracy better than 0.5 mmHg
- Repeatable – No appreciable change in sensor performance over more than 10,000 cycles
- Broad operating range – Measures pressure from 0 to more than 500 mmHg
- Miniature – 250 microns in diameter and less than 1 mm long. An optical fiber (150 microns in diameter) runs from the microsensor to the measurement system which could be 1m or 1km away
- Flexible platform – Parameters such as sensitivity, operating range, and size can be tailored
- Immune to electromagnetic effects – Can operate in high EM environments (e.g. MRI)
- Sterilizable – Sterilizable by steam (can survive temperatures up to 300oC), ethylene oxide (resistant to a broad range of chemicals), gamma irradiation (immune to low levels of radiation)
