Quantitative and qualitative in vivo tissue examination using time resolved spectroscopy
US5386827A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 30, 1993 |
| Grant date | Feb 7, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B5/14553
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system for examination of biological tissue of a subject includes a light source, a light detector, a gated integrator and a integrator timing control adapted to integrate detected photons over at least two selected time intervals. The light source is adapted to introduce into the tissue, at an optical input port, pulses of electromagnetic radiation of a selected wavelength in the visible or infra-red range having duration on the order of a nanosecond or less. The detector detects, at an optical detection port, photons of modified pulses that have migrated in the tissue from the input port. The integrator and the integrator timing control register all photons arriving at the detector port over preselected time intervals of the arrival time of the modified pulses. The time-dependent shape of the modified pulses reflects the scattering and absorptive properties of the examined tissue. A processor adapted to receive data from the integrator determines a physiological property of the examined tissue based on the number of photons integrated over each time interval.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.