Fiber optic cable for less invasive bone tracking

A surgical navigation system comprising:

• a multi-core fiber optic cable, comprising:
• a plurality of optical fibers, a coupler to optically couple the plurality of optical fibers to an optical generator,
• at least one fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in each of the plurality of optical fibers,
• at least one tracking sensor portion, the at least one tracking sensor portions comprising at least one of the plurality of FBGs and arranged to be affixed to an anatomy of a patient, and
• a cable shroud enclosing the plurality of optical fibers;
• an optical signal generator and receiver optically to be coupled to the plurality of optical fibers in the multi-core fiber optic cable, the optical signal generator and receiver to transmit an optical excitation signal to the plurality of optical fibers and to receive a plurality of optical reflection signals from the plurality of optical fibers, wherein the plurality of optical reflection signals are generated at least in part by the plurality of FBGs;
• and
• a computing system comprising:
• processing circuitry;
• and
• memory comprising instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry cause the processing circuitry to:
• receive an indication of the optical excitation signal and the plurality of optical reflection signals, and
• determine a pose of the anatomy of the patient based in part on the optical excitation signal and the plurality of optical reflection signals.