Fiber Optical Sensors for Food Measurements in Harsh Manufacturing Conditions and Medical Applications

Food and healthcare are among the basic needs of anyone in the world. Despite their co-existence with humans in the long human history, both areas still have many unmet challenges nowadays, which likely will grow further with new needs and markets. In this talk, I will provide a few examples of my ongoing efforts, from the standpoint of an optical and mechanical engineer, on improving food manufacturing process monitoring and healthcare instruments, with the aim of contributing to food and healthcare, both of which concern every one of us.

Specifically, I will introduce fiber optical sensors for real-time, in-line measurements of food moisture contents and fresh banana deformation, respectively, during the food drying processes. Different from commercially available electrical sensors, our fiber sensors are small in footprint, easy to implement, compatible with harsh manufacturing environmental conditions such as high temperatures (>200 oC) and strong microwaves, and not susceptible to fiber bending or movement. To the best of our knowledge, our fiber strain sensor is the first way to real-time, continuously measure below-the-surface food deformation during the drying process. Both the above sensors are being tested on pilot food processing machines for in-the-field applications, with two pending US utility patents. Finally, I will briefly talk about a few fiber optical systems developed for healthcare devices, including laser surgical devices for laryngeal lesion treatment and brain mechanical thrombectomy.

Yuxiang (Shawn) Liu is an associate professor in Mechanical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and the WPI site co-director of Center for Advanced Research in Drying, an NSF Industry-University Collaborative Research Center (I/UCRC). He received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Maryland, College Park in 2011. Before joining WPI in 2013, Yuxiang Liu worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Purdue University in 2011 and as a NIST-ARRA fellow in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from 2011 to 2013. His research interests include fiber optical sensors, optical spectroscopy, fiber based optical trapping, nanophotonics, and biomechanics. The applications of his research include drying process control in food and pharmaceutical industries, water and food safety, and healthcare instrumentation. His research has been supported by NSF, NIH, DoE, US Army, the MA state government, and industrial partners.