In recent years, fiber sensing technology has become more and more important in many fields of applied science. The versatility of the fiber sensors to obtain reliable and precise measurements while maintaining compact size and reduced costs has no comparison in sensing technology. However, the most intriguing property of optical fiber sensors is represented by the possibility to extend the sensing area to the whole length of the optical device. A direct consequence of this property is the capability to achieve a higher density of sensing points, thus making the optical fiber a perfect platform for implementing distributing sensing paradigm. In this context, distributed fiber sensing represents a new opportunity for biomedical applications, where the spatial density of sensing points is fundamental to achieve precise mapping of physical measurands. In this contribution we aim to review the main technologies that achieve higher density of sensing points and distributed sensing, in particular optical frequency domain reflectometry based on Rayleigh scattering. We focus our attention on the key aspects of distributing sensing that enable innovative applications in biomedical field such as, temperature mapping during thermo-therapies, guidance reconstruction of needles and catheters, shape sensing of medical device and other emerging application in the field.

中文翻译：

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生物医学应用分布式光纤传感器的现状和未来发展

近年来，光纤传感技术在许多应用科学领域变得越来越重要。光纤传感器的多功能性可以获得可靠和精确的测量，同时保持紧凑的尺寸和降低的成本，这是传感技术中无可比拟的。然而，光纤传感器最有趣的特性是可以将传感区域扩展到光学设备的整个长度。这一特性的直接后果是能够实现更高密度的传感点，从而使光纤成为实现分布式传感范例的完美平台。在这种背景下，分布式光纤传感代表了生物医学应用的新机遇，其中传感点的空间密度是实现物理被测量精确映射的基础。在本文中，我们旨在回顾实现更高密度传感点和分布式传感的主要技术，特别是基于瑞利散射的光频域反射测量。我们将注意力集中在分布式传感的关键方面，这些方面可实现生物医学领域的创新应用，例如热疗期间的温度测绘、针和导管的引导重建、医疗设备的形状传感以及该领域的其他新兴应用。