Patent ID: 7651862

Claim:
A method of analyzing an analyte dispersed in a medium comprising: providing an optic fiber with at least one analyte-sensitive material in the form of a swelling or contracting sensing polymer coating circumferentially surrounding the optic fiber, which coating is distributed as a longitudinal sequence of active circumferential stripes along the entire length of the optic fiber; exposing the coated optic fiber to the medium to induce a stress along the optic fiber; and sensing the stress induced on the optic fiber to identify exposure of the analyte-sensitive material to the analyte, where the optic fiber has a cladding and where providing the swelling or contracting sensing polymer on the exterior of a optic fiber comprises embedding the swelling or contracting sensing polymer into a plurality of semicircular notches defined into a uniform polymer coating on the exterior of the cladding of the optic fiber; and inducing a plurality of bends in the optic fiber on exposure to the analyte to create a stress in the optic fiber to alter its optical property.