Highly Sensitive Miniature Optical Fiber Liquid Crystal Sensor for Tumor Temperature Detection

Cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs), due to their structural rearrangement under external stimulation, offer the potential for various physical and chemical sensing applications. Herein, we propose and demonstrate a novel microtip highly sensitive temperature sensor, consisting of a tapered hollow-core fiber (HCF) filled with glycerol and CLCs. We use reflectance spectroscopy to study the temperature characteristics of various liquid crystals. To enhance the sensitivity of the liquid crystals, a dual-peak sensitivity overlay method is employed for temperature sensing. Furthermore, we measured mouse temperature differences between normal tissues and tumor tissues. The variation in subcutaneous tissue temperature contributes to the diagnosis of malignant tumors in soft tissues, presenting significant potential applications in the field of human medical research.