A new class of fiber optic sensors based on nonlinear buckling of fibers and optical bend loss provide intrinsic, all-fiber displacement sensors which exhibit several unique properties. Primary among them is a sensing range from less than 1 .mu.m to several mm, which is convenient for many structural...http://www.google.ca/patents/US5818982?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5818982 - Fiber optic sensor based upon buckling of a freely suspended length of fiber 
