Bragg grated fiber optic fluctuation sensing and monitoring system

A medical method, comprising:

• inserting a catheter assembly into a vessel, the catheter assembly including an optical fiber having one or more core fibers, each of the one or more core fibers including a plurality of sensors distributed along a longitudinal length of a corresponding core fiber and each sensor of the plurality of sensors being configured to (i) reflect a light signal of a different spectral width based on received incident light, and (ii) change a characteristic of the reflected light signal based on strain experienced by the optical fiber;
• providing a broadband incident light signal to the optical fiber;
• receiving reflected light signals of different spectral widths of the broadband incident light signal by one or more of the plurality of sensors;
• processing the reflected light signals associated with the one or more core fibers to detect fluctuations of a portion of the optical fiber;
• and
• determining a location of the portion of the optical fiber or a defect affecting the vessel in which the portion is disposed based on detected fluctuations.