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US 10,165,976 B2Granted
System for imaging lesions aligning tissue surfaces
AssigneeOrlucent, Inc.
InventorsCatherine M. Shachaf, Amit Shachaf
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods, compositions and systems are provided for the imaging of cavity/tissue lesions, including without limitation cavity/tissue malignant lesions, e.g. cancers of the skin, mouth, colon, digestive system cervix, bladder, lung, etc.
Claims12
A method of imaging a cavity/tissue surface on a live patient comprising:
- applying topically a biotag to an area of interest, wherein the area of interest comprises a lesion suspected to be cancerous and its macroenvironment on the cavity/tissue surface;
- placing one or more fluorescent fiducials on the live patient's surface proximal to the area of interest;
- placing a handheld integrated imaging device comprising:
- an internal image sensor, internal autofocus control logic, internal embedded processor with memory for stored instructions and one or more of:
- (i) a lens that is optionally a macro-lens, or (ii) a lens mount adapted to accept a lens;
- such that a field of view of the integrated imaging device includes the area of interest and fiducials;
- activating a user control on the integrated imaging device to initiate an imaging sequence, where the imaging sequence comprises:
- illuminating the area of interest by an excitation light source that overlaps the excitation optical band of the biotag;
- autofocusing by the autofocus control logic within the integrated imaging device on the field of view;
- and
- taking an exposure by the integrated imaging device to create a first image of the field of view;
- wherein the biotag comprises a first fluorescing dye conjugated with one or more cancer sensitive biological entities selected from protein, RNA, DNA.
9 more elements
A method of imaging a cavity/tissue surface on a live patient comprising:
- applying topically a biotag to an area of interest, wherein the area of interest comprises a lesion and its macroenvironment on the cavity/tissue surface;
- placing one or more fluorescent fiducials on the live patient's surface proximal to the area of interest;
- placing a handheld integrated imaging device comprising:
- an internal image sensor, internal autofocus control logic, internal embedded processor with memory for stored instructions and one or more of:
- (i) a lens that is optionally a macro-lens, or (ii) a lens mount adapted to accept a lens;
- such that a field of view of the integrated imaging device includes the area of interest and fiducials;
- activating a user control on the integrated imaging device to initiate an imaging sequence, where the imaging sequence comprises:
- illuminating the area of interest by an excitation light source that overlaps the excitation optical band of the biotag;
- autofocusing by the autofocus control logic within the integrated imaging device on the field of view;
- and
- taking an exposure by the integrated imaging device to create a first image of the field of view;
- wherein the biotag comprises a first fluorescing dye conjugated with one or more cancer sensitive biological entities selected from protein, RNA, DNA and
- wherein measuring is automatically performed by the steps comprising:
- (a) taking a 3D image of the lesion;
- (b) using automated hair-identification image processing to identify individual patient hairs in the 3D image where the automated hair-identification image processing is responsive to both the height of the hair above the patient's skin and the length-to-width ratio of the individual hairs;
- (c) removing the identified individual patient hairs from the 3D image creating a hair-free 3D image using automated hair removal image processing comprising:
- (c1) placing areas of the skin image underneath each identified individual patient hair into the area of the individual hair in the image;
- (c2) extending areas of the skin image proximal to each identified individual patient hair into the area of the individual hair in the image whereby the extending is perpendicular to the long axis of the individual hair in the direction towards the hair;
- (d) measuring the height of the lesion above the skin using automated image processing of the hair-free 3D image;
- (e) measuring the surface texture of the lesion using automated image processing of the hair-free 3D image;
- (f) converting the 3D image with patient hairs removed to a 2D patient image, using automated image processing;
- (g) measuring an attribute of skin lesion using automated image processing;
- (h) comparing the 2D patient lesion image to a library of lesion images where said comparing is responsive to at least one of:
- (i) the measured height of the lesion, (ii) the measured surface texture of the lesion, and (iii) the measured attribute of the lesion;
- (i) selecting one or more library lesion images from the library of lesions images where the selecting is responsive to comparing;
- and
- (j) presenting both the 2D patient lesion image and at least one of the selected library lesion images to a medical practitioner.
24 more elements
A method of imaging an area of interest comprising a lesion suspected to be cancerous and its macroenvironment on a surface comprising:
- applying topically a biotag comprising a first fluorescing dye conjugated with one or more cancer sensitive biological entities selected from protein, RNA and DNA on the area of interest on a live patient;
- placing one or more fluorescent fiducials on the live patient's surface proximal to the area of interest:
- placing a handheld integrated imaging device comprising:
- an internal image sensor, internal autofocus control logic, internal embedded processor with memory for stored instructions and one or more of:
- (i) a lens that is optionally a macro-lens, or (ii) a lens mount adapted to accept a lens;
- such that a field of view of the integrated imaging device includes the area of interest and fiducials;
- activating a user control on the integrated imaging device to initiate an imaging sequence, where the imaging sequence comprises:
- illuminating the area of interest with visible light;
- taking a first exposure to create a first image with an imaging device using the visible light;
- turning off the visible light;
- illuminating the area of interest with autofocus light in the wavelength band of the emission band of the biotag;
- autofocusing the imaging device in the emission band wavelength;
- turning off the autofocus light and maintaining the emission-band focus position;
- illuminating the area of interest with excitation light in a wavelength band of the fluorescent excitation band of the biotag;
- and
- taking a second exposure to create a second image with the imaging device wherein light for the exposure comprises emission light from the biotag and wherein the imaging device comprises a filter in the optical path that blocks the excitation light such that the second image comprises identifiable fluorescing areas within the area of interest wherein the fluorescing areas are locations of the biotag.
13 more elements
A method of imaging a cavity/tissue surface on a live patient comprising:
- applying topically a fluorescent biotag to an area of interest, wherein the area of interest is a lesion suspected of being cancerous and its macroenvironment on the cavity/tissue surface;
- placing one or more fluorescent fiducials on the live patient's skin proximal to the area of interest;
- placing an integrated imaging device comprising:
- a body, a cavity to accept a battery, a cavity to accept a storage card, an internal image sensor, an internal image storage memory, user controls on the body, user display, internal autofocus control logic, internal embedded processor with memory for stored instructions and one of:
- (i) a lens, or (ii) a lens mount adapted to accept a lens;
- such that field of view of the integrated imaging device includes the area of interest and fiducials;
- wherein the method further comprises:
- (a) activating a user control on the integrated imaging device to initiate a pair of imaging sequences, wherein the first imaging sequence of the pair of imaging sequences comprises:
- (b) illuminating the area of interest by a first light source in a visible optical band;
- (c) a first autofocusing by the autofocus control logic within the integrated imaging device on the area of interest;
- (d) exposing the integrated imaging device to create a first image of the field of view;
- wherein the second imaging sequence of the pair of imaging sequences comprises:
- (e) illuminating the area of interest by a second light source in the emission optical band of the biotag;
- (f) a second autofocusing by the autofocus control logic within the integrated imaging device on the area of interest;
- (g) turning off the autofocus light and maintaining the emission-band focus position;
- (h) illuminating the area of interest by an third light source on the excitation optical band of the biotag;
- and
- (i) taking an exposure by the integrated imaging device to create a second image of the field of view;
- wherein the first and second imaging sequences may be performed in either order.
16 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.