Pressure sensors, a method of sensing pressure and a method of determining a change in birefringence of a polarization maintaining (PM) optical fiber. In one embodiment, the pressure sensor includes: (1) a source of laser light, (2) a polarization module coupled to the source and configured to modulate a polarization state of the light, (3) a PM optical fiber configured to receive the light into a proximal end thereof and having a sensor coupled to a distal tip of the PM optical fiber and having a pressure-dependent optical anisotropy and (4) a detector configured to receive the light back from the sensor via the proximal end and provide a signal based thereon that indicates a pressure on the sensor.
