High temperature sterilization resistant and enclosed three-axial force-sensing surgical instrument integrated with step-reduced FBG
Tianliang Li, Haolei Fan, Chen Zhao, Mingchang Du, Houxin Tu, Siqi Zhu
Abstract
The Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) three-axial force sensor provides force feedback for an endoscopic surgical robot, reducing operational difficulty and risks. However, the packaging method of the optical fiber sensor demonstrates limited adaptability to both high-temperature sterilization environments and the wet operative areas encountered during surgery. Based on this, this paper presents step-reduced FBG and enclosed three-axial force sensor. The sensor adopts an integrated design with a maximum outer diameter of 4.5 mm and can be seamlessly integrated into the end of the flexible endoscopic surgical robot. At the same time, the hydrofluoric acid corrosion process is introduced to obtain the twin reflection spectrum and realize the decoupling of three-axial forces and temperature. Static calibration demonstrates etched grating sensitivities of 227.78 pm/N (Fx), 242.63 pm/N (Fy), and 233.50 pm/N (Fz) via least-squares fitting. Force-temperature coupling experiment confirms maximum full-scale force errors remain below 5% under temperature perturbation, verifying the reliability of the sensor. Finally, the high-temperature sterilization experiment at 180°C was conducted, demonstrating the designed sensor’s thermal stability under medical device sterilization protocols.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{iros2025_hightemperatures,
title = {High temperature sterilization resistant and enclosed three-axial force-sensing surgical instrument integrated with step-reduced FBG},
author = {Tianliang Li and Haolei Fan and Chen Zhao and Mingchang Du and Houxin Tu and Siqi Zhu},
booktitle = {IROS 2025},
year = {2025}
}