US Patent 7446304 Detection of collisions in medical procedures

A method of detecting collisions between elements in a medical procedure such as between a magnet and another element in the procedure mounting on the medical device a flexible body within which is mounted one or more parallel side by side optical fibers arranged such that the impact causes bending of one or more of the optical fibers and detecting changes in light transmission through the optical fiber to detect the bending and thus the collision. The single fiber or fibers are located in a junction between a lower body of resilient foam and a surface layer of a stiffer flexible material.