Method and apparatus for the in vivo measurement of oxygen concentration levels by the indirect determination of fluoescence lifetime
US5515864A · kind A · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 21, 1994 |
| Grant date | May 14, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 21, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N21/6445
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Methods are described for the in vivo topographic determination of tissue and bodily fluid oxygen concentration or PO.sub.2 within an imaged tissue, as well as a method for measuring blood or bodily fluid PO.sub.2 with a fiber optic catheter. In the first method, a lipid soluble, biocompatible fluorescent probe substance is administered to an animal body and accumulates within the lipid bilayers of its tissue cells. In the second method, the fluorescent probe substance is conjugated to a large molecular mass protein which causes it to be retained within a bodily fluid such as blood. In the third method describing a catheter design, in which PO.sub.2 is measured at the catheter tip, the tip contains the fluorescent probe substance dissolved in a viscous nonpolar solvent. In all methods described, a fluorescent probe substance is preferred whose fluorescence lifetime is quenched by molecular oxygen, and oxygen concentration or PO.sub.2 is determined by measuring the fluorescence anisotropy of the fluorescent probe substance. The bodily fluid or tissue containing the biocompatible fluorescent probe substance, or the fluorescent probe substance in a nonpolar solvent within a catheter t…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.