Lab in a needle for epidural space identification

This work relies on the development of a sensorized medical needle with an all-optical guidance (Lab in a Needle) system for epidural space identification. The device is based on the judicious integration of a Fiber Bragg grating sensor inside the lumen of an epidural needle to discriminate between different types of tissue and thus providing continuous and real time measurements of the pressure experienced by the needle tip during its advancement. Experiments carried out on an epidural training phantom demonstrate the validity of our approach for the correct and effective identification of the epidural space.