Optical Fiber Bragg Grating Strain Sensor for Bone Stress Analysis in Bovine During Masticatory Movements

This paper describes an optical-fiber sensor development and implementation, based on Bragg gratings, to measure the mechanical deformation at the bone surface of a bovine mandible, caused by chewing different types of food and rumination. A suitable encapsulation was developed using a titanium mesh as a transducer and sensor calibration and characterization tests were performed. The proposed sensor was deployed in a living animal transmitting the detected bone deformation to the data collecting instrument. The acquired signal was applied to a pattern-classification algorithm based on decision trees for identifying the chewing process of different foods. The results demonstrate that the sensor is effective and sensitive, capable of capturing the force generated during the masticatory process.