1115results about "Diagnostics using tomography" patented technology

A system for use during a medical or surgical procedure on a body. The system generates an image representing the position of one or more body elements during the procedure using scans generated by a scanner prior or during the procedure. The image data set has reference points for each of the body elements, the reference points of a particular body element having a fixed spatial relation to the particular body element. The system includes an apparatus for identifying, during the procedure, the relative position of each of the reference points of each of the body elements to be displayed. The system also includes a processor for modifying the image data set according to the identified relative position of each of the reference points during the procedure, as identified by the identifying apparatus, said processor generating a displaced image data set representing the position of the body elements during the procedure. The system also includes a display utilizing the displaced image data set generated by the processor, illustrating the relative position of the body elements during the procedure. Methods relating to the system are also disclosed. Also disclosed are devices for use with a surgical navigation system having a sensor array which is in communication with the device to identify its position. The device may be a reference frame for attachment of a body part of the patient, such as a cranial reference arc frame for attachment to the head or a spine reference arc frame for attachment to the spine. The device may also be a localization frame for positioning an instrument relative to a body part, such as a localization biopsy guide frame for positioning a biopsy needle, a localization drill guide assembly for positioning a drill bit, a localization drill yoke assembly for positioning a drill, or a ventriculostomy probe for positioning a catheter.

The present invention provides a method, system and apparatus for reflection-mode microscopic photoacoustic imaging using dark-field illumination that can be used to characterize a target within a tissue by focusing one or more laser pulses onto a surface of the tissue so as to penetrate the tissue and illuminate the target, receiving acoustic or pressure waves induced in the target by the one or more laser pulses using one or more ultrasonic transducers that are focused on the target and recording the received acoustic or pressure waves so that a characterization of the target can be obtained. The target characterization may include an image, a composition or a structure of the target. The one or more laser pulses are focused with an optical assembly of lenses and / or mirrors that expands and then converges the one or more laser pulses towards the focal point of the ultrasonic transducer.

The present invention is an alternative Fourier domain optical coherence system (FD-OCT) and its associated method. The system comprises a swept multi-wavelength laser, an optical interferometer and a multi-channel receiver. By employing a multi-wavelength laser, the sweeping range for each lasing wavelength is substantially reduced as compared to a pure swept single wavelength laser that needs to cover the same overall spectral range. The overall spectral interferogram is divided over the individual channels of the multi-channel receiver and can be re-constructed through processing of the data from each channel detector. In addition to a substantial increase in the speed of each axial scan, the cost of invented FD-OCT system can also be substantially less than that of a pure swept source OCT or a pure spectral domain OCT system.

A system for detecting, localizing and targeting a medical instrument toward a target tissue within the body using an optical contrast agent in which a light source (102) is optically coupled to the tissue to be diagnosed (135), a light detector (174) is optically coupled to the tissue to detect a portion of the light which passes through the tissue, and either one or both of the light source and light detector are coupled to a medical instrument (130) used in a medical procedure. A contrast locator engine (184) receives a signal from the detector and provides an target tissue output signal (195) based upon the localization and distribution of the contrast agent, allowing the target tissue to be detected, located, or imaged, and for the medical instrument to positioned or targeted relative to the target tissue, and for allowing the accuracy of placement or the progress of a procedure to be assessed in real time. A method for the system is also described.

A high performance imaging system for diffuse optical tomography is disclosed. A dense grid utilizing sources, e.g., light emitting diodes (“LEDs”), that achieve high performance at high speed with a high dynamic range and low inter-channel crosstalk are complemented by a system of discrete, isolated receivers, e.g., avalanche photodiodes (“APDs”). The source channels have dedicated reconfigurable encoding control signals, and the detector channels have reconfigurable decoding, allowing maximum flexibility and optimal mixtures of frequency and time encoding and decoding. Each detector channel is analyzed by dedicated, isolated, high-bandwidth receiver circuitry so that no channel gain switching is necessary. The resulting improvements to DOT system performance, e.g., increased dynamic range and decreased crosstalk, enable higher density imaging arrays and provide significantly enhanced DOT image quality. A processor can be utilized to provide sophisticated three dimensional modeling as well as noise reduction.

A method of functional brain mapping of a subject is disclosed. The method is effected by (a) illuminating an exposed cortex of a brain or portion thereof of the subject with incident light; (b) acquiring a reflectance spectrum of each picture element of at least a portion of the exposed cortex of the subject; (c) stimulating the brain of the subject; (d) during or after step (c) acquiring at least one additional reflectance spectrum of each picture element of at least the portion of the exposed cortex of the subject; and (e) generating an image highlighting differences among spectra of the exposed cortex acquired in steps (b) and (d), so as to highlight functional brain regions. Algorithms for calculating oxygen saturation and blood volume maps which can be used to practice the method are also disclosed. Systems for practicing the method are also disclosed.

One embodiment of the present invention is a method for suppressing artifacts in frequency-domain OCT images, which method includes (a) providing sample and reference paths with a significant difference in their chromatic dispersion (b) correcting for the effects of the mismatch in chromatic dispersion, for the purpose of making artifacts in the OCT image readily distinguishable from the desired image.

Low coherence light having a central wavelength λc of 1.1 μm and a full width at half maximum spectrum Δλ of 90 nm is emitted. The low coherence light has wavelength properties suited for the light absorbing properties, the diffusion properties, and the dispersion properties of living tissue. A light dividing means divides the low coherence light into a measuring light beam, which is irradiated onto a measurement target via an optical probe, and a reference light beam that propagates toward an optical path length adjusting means. A multiplexing means multiplexes a reflected light beam, which is the measuring light beam reflected at a predetermined depth of the measurement target, and the reference light beam, to form coherent light. A coherent light detecting means detects the optical intensity of the multiplexed coherent light. An image obtaining means performs image processes, and displays an optical tomographic image on a display apparatus.

The present invention relates to a non-invasive optical system equipped with optical tomographic scanning method and algorithm for quantifying scattering and absorption properties and chromophore concentrations of highly scattering medium such as biological tissues, for 3D mapping and imaging reconstruction of the spatial and temporal variations in such properties. The invention further relates to a method and an apparatus for simultaneous measurement of concentrations of biochemical substances and blood oxygen saturation inside a biological tissue and arterial blood.

The invention provides an apparatus and methods for depositing materials on a substrate, and for performing other selected functions, such as material destruction and removal, temperature control, imaging, detection, therapy and positional and locational control. In various embodiments, the apparatus and methods are suitable for use in a tabletop setting, in vitro or in vivo.

This application describes designs, implementations, and techniques for optically monitoring glucose levels of patients without taking blood samples.

The present invention is an alternative Fourier domain optical coherence system (FD-OCT) and its associated method. The system comprises a swept multi-wavelength laser, an optical interferometer and a multi-channel receiver. By employing a multi-wavelength laser, the sweeping range for each lasing wavelength is substantially reduced as compared to a pure swept single wavelength laser that needs to cover the same overall spectral range. The overall spectral interferogram is divided over the individual channels of the multi-channel receiver and can be re-constructed through processing of the data from each channel detector. In addition to a substantial increase in the speed of each axial scan, the cost of invented FD-OCT system can also be substantially less than that of a pure swept source OCT or a pure spectral domain OCT system.

The invention is directed to imaging methods for performing real-time or near real-time assessment and monitoring. Embodiments of these methods are useful in a plurality of settings including surgery, clinical procedures, tissue assessment, diagnostic procedures, forensic, health monitoring and medical evaluations.

In one embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) in a laser ring is chosen to provide low polarization-dependent gain (PDG) and a booster semiconductor optical amplifier, outside of the ring, is chosen to provide high polarization-dependent gain. The use of a semiconductor optical amplifier with low polarization-dependent gain nearly eliminates variations in the polarization state of the light at the output of the laser, but does not eliminate the intra-sweep variations in the polarization state at the output of the laser, which can degrade the performance of the SS-OCT system.