Patent · US Active

Method and apparatus for 3-D imaging of internal light sources

US7616985B2 · kind B2 · utility

6Cited by
82References
39Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 25, 2003
Grant dateNov 10, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 4, 2027

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N13/271
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for obtaining a three-dimensional (3D) representation of one or more light sources inside a sample, such as a mammal. Mammalian tissue is a turbid medium, meaning that photons are both absorbed and scattered as they propagate through tissue. In the case where scattering is large compared with absorption, such as red to near-infrared light passing through tissue, the transport of light within the sample is described by diffusion theory. Using imaging data and computer-implemented photon diffusion models, embodiments of the present invention produce a 3D representation of the light sources inside a sample, such as a 3D location, size, and brightness of such light sources.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.