Fiber bragg grating for endoscopes

A surgical system, comprising:

• an endoscope configured to extend distally toward a target site;
• a sensing optical fiber extending to a distal portion of the endoscope and including a fiber Bragg grating disposed at a distal portion of the sensing optical fiber;
• a sensing controller configured to:
• direct sensing light distally along the sensing optical fiber such that at least some of the sensing light reflects from the fiber Bragg grating as reflected light;
• perform optical frequency domain reflectometry on the reflected light;
• and
• determine, from the optical frequency domain reflectometry, a pressure value at the fiber Bragg grating;
• and
• processing circuitry configured to:
• analyze the pressure value;
• determine, from the analysis of the pressure value, that a pressure at the target site satisfies a specified condition;
• and
• generate an alert data signal in response to the determination that the pressure at the target site satisfies the specified condition,
• wherein:
• the processing circuitry is configured to analyze the pressure value by comparing a rate of change of the pressure value to a threshold pressure slope value;
• the specified condition is that the rate of change of the pressure value exceeds the threshold pressure slope value;
• and
• the alert data signal is configured to alert a user that the pressure at the target site may be changing too quickly.

A surgical system, comprising:

• an endoscope configured to extend distally toward a target site and provide insufflation media to the target site;
• a sensing optical fiber extending to a distal portion of the endoscope and including a first fiber Bragg grating disposed at a distal portion of the sensing optical fiber and a second fiber Bragg grating located proximal to the first fiber Bragg grating;
• a sensing controller configured to:
• direct sensing light distally along the sensing optical fiber such that at least some of the sensing light reflects from the first fiber Bragg grating and the second fiber Bragg grating as reflected light;
• perform optical frequency domain reflectometry on the reflected light;
• determine, from the optical frequency domain reflectometry, a first pressure value at the first fiber Bragg grating;
• and
• determine, from the optical frequency domain reflectometry, a second pressure value at the second fiber Bragg grating;
• and
• processing circuitry configured to:
• compare a pressure difference between the first pressure value and the second pressure value to a threshold pressure difference;
• determine, from the comparison, that the pressure difference exceeds the threshold pressure difference;
• and
• in response to the determination that the pressure difference exceeds the threshold pressure difference, cause the endoscope to perform at least one of:
• provide an alert to a user to reduce a pressure of the insufflation media;
• or
• automatically reduce a pressure of the insufflation media.