A fiber optic shape sensing system includes an elongated fiber optic shape sensing device (116) having a proximal region and a distal region. The distal region includes a first temperature at which shape sensing is performed. A temperature control device (102, 104, 106) is configured to control a second temperature at the proximal region of the shape sensing device to match the first temperature. The proximal region includes a launch region (118) for launching light into at least one optical fiber of the fiber optical shape sensing device.
