Application of Fibre Bragg Grating Arrays for Medical Diagnosis and Rehabilitation Purposes

Human health is an incessant query, which to date and in the future will remain an issue of paramount importance for the sustenance and survival of the Homo Sapiens race. To understand the issue at hand, i.e., health and well-being, it needs to be defined and the World Health Organisation does so by stating that "it is (health) not merely the absence of malady, but a condition of completeness of physical, social, and mental wellbeing" [World Health Organisation 1948]. This chapter, however, deals with a single entity, which is physical well-being. To further prove the merit of the study, it becomes essential to present some practical data associated with human physiological disorders and diseases. As per the study conducted, heart disease is most common among all age groups of humans, and leads to a single death every 34 seconds. Coronary artery disease is the most frequent type of heart condition and around 20 million people in their twenties suffer from it [Centre for Disease Control and Prevention 2020b]. Heart attack, another phenomenon, is witnessed by 0.8 million people every year and 1 out of 5 heart attacks are silent. Hypertension, a medical condition in which blood pressure accounts for values higher than nominal, is very prevalent among human beings. More than 0.6 million deaths occurred had hypertension as a primary or contributing cause. Surprisingly, nearly half of the fully-grown struggle from hypertension and only 1 out of 4 have it under control. Not only is it dangerous in terms of health, but such ailments also prove themselves to be a costly endeavor too. As per the study, heart disease can cost $229 billion every year comprising of health services, medicines, and lost work productivity. Hypertension also costs around $131 billion every year comprising medical and health care services. Acquiring, analyzing, and evaluating various physiological parameters plays a significant part in understanding and maintaining a balanced state of health in human beings [Centre for Disease Control and Prevention 2020a]. Gauging deep inside the matter and understanding the gravity of the situation, it becomes essential to monitor health-related parameters for continuous analysis and assessment. Various physiological parameters such as Heart Rate (HR) or Pulse Rate (PR), Respiratory Rate (RR), Blood Pressure (BP) consisting of Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP), Oxygen Saturation Percentage (SpO2), etc., can be evaluated and supervised regularly for ahead of time detection of abnormalities or presence of life-threatening diseases. The above-mentioned parameters are acquired from a pulse (an impulse felt over an artery resulting from continuous contraction and expansion of the arterial walls of the heart) and can be acquired from different regions appearing from head to toe. Generally, there are nine pulsation points, which are Temporal (over the temple), Carotid (at the side of the neck), Apical (over the intercostal space), Brachial (on the crook of the arm), Radial (in the wrist below the thumb), Femoral (in the groin), Popliteal (behind the knee), Posterior Tibial (at the side of the ankle), and Dorsalis Pedis (on the front of the foot). By analyzing the pulse pattern obtained from these pulsation points, an evaluation of physiological parameters and efficient diagnosis can be performed.