# US 11,109,758 B2 · Optical imaging or spectroscopy systems and methods

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- Number: US 11,109,758 B2
- Document ID: US11109758B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/915,180
- Filed: 2018-03-08
- Published: 2018-08-02
- Granted: 2021-09-07
- Earliest claimed: 2007-06-29
- Assignees: The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
- Applicants: The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
- Inventors: Elizabeth Marjorie Clare Hillman; Sean A. Burgess
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11109758B2

## CPC

- A61B 5/0064: {Body surface scanning}
- A61B 5/0066: {Optical coherence imaging}
- A61B 5/0071: {by measuring fluorescence emission}
- A61B 5/0073: {by tomography, i.e. reconstruction of 3D images from 2D projections (A61B5/0066 takes precedence)}
- A61B 5/0075: {by spectroscopy, i.e. measuring spectra, e.g. Raman spectroscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy (A61B5/0071 takes precedence)}
- A61B 5/444: {Evaluating skin marks, e.g. mole, nevi, tumour, scar}
- A61B 5/445: {Evaluating skin irritation or skin trauma, e.g. rash, eczema, wound, bed sore}
- G01J 3/2889: {Rapid scan spectrometers; Time resolved spectrometry}
- G01J 3/42: Absorption spectrometry; Double beam spectrometry; Flicker spectrometry; Reflection spectrometry (beam switching arrangements G01J3/08)
- G01J 3/457: Correlation spectrometry, e.g. of the intensity (G01J3/453 takes precedence)
- G02B 23/2476: {Non-optical details, e.g. housings, mountings, supports}
- G02B 26/101: {with both horizontal and vertical deflecting means, e.g. raster or XY scanners (colour television using laser beams scanning a display screen H04N9/3129)}
- A61B 5/0088: {for oral or dental tissue}
- A61B 2562/0238: Optical sensor arrangements for performing transmission measurements on body tissue
- A61B 2562/0242: for varying or adjusting the optical path length in the tissue
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G01J: MEASUREMENT OF INTENSITY, VELOCITY, SPECTRAL CONTENT, POLARISATION, PHASE OR PULSE CHARACTERISTICS OF INFRARED, VISIBLE OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT; COLORIMETRY; RADIATION PYROMETRY (light sources F21, H01J, H01K, H05B; investigating properties of materials by optical means G01N)
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS

## Abstract

Optical imaging or spectroscopy described can use laminar optical tomography (LOT), diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS), or the like. An incident beam is scanned across a target. An orthogonal or oblique optical response can be obtained, such as concurrently at different distances from the incident beam. The optical response from multiple incident wavelengths can be concurrently obtained by dispersing the response wavelengths in a direction orthogonal to the response distances from the incident beam. Temporal correlation can be measured, from which flow and other parameters can be computed. An optical conduit can enable endoscopic or laparoscopic imaging or spectroscopy of internal target locations. An articulating arm can communicate the light for performing the LOT, DCS, or the like. The imaging can find use for skin cancer diagnosis, such as distinguishing lentigo maligna (LM) from lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM).

## Claims

### Claim 1

An imaging device, comprising:
an objective;
a light source;
a scanning/de-scanning optical assembly having a first moving light-redirecting element that routes illumination light from the light source, through the objective in a proximal-to-distal direction, and scans a resulting beam across a target region;
a light detector with a one or two dimensional array of detector elements, each providing a respective luminance signal;
the scanning/de-scanning optical assembly being arranged with respect to the objective, the light source, and the light detector such that after light received from the target region passes through the objective in a distal-to-proximal direction, the first moving light-redirecting element routes the received light to the light detector such that optical responses arising at multiple depths in the target region are concurrently imaged onto respective different detector elements within the light detector, such that a resulting image resolves depth information about the optical responses at the multiple depths, with optical responses obtained at distances that are farther from the incident light beam location corresponding to light that has penetrated more deeply into the target region.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, further comprising a processor connected to the light detector programmed to calculate, from the luminance signals, a distribution of the optical responses at the multiple depths.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, wherein the first moving light-redirecting element scans the resulting beam across the target region and de-scans received light from the region of interest to maintain a position of an image of the image region of interest on the light detector as the resulting beam is scanned such that the region of interest moves across the target region as the resulting beam is scanned.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, further comprising a beam splitter arranged to (a) route the illumination light so that the illumination light will travel through the objective in a proximal-to-distal direction and (b) route received light, which has passed through the objective to in a distal-to-proximal direction, towards the light detector.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The device of claim 4, wherein the beam splitter is a dichroic beam splitter and a wavelength of the light source is selected to excite fluorescence in a predefined fluorescing material selected by the properties of the dichroic beam splitter.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, wherein the scanning/de-scanning optical assembly has a second light-redirecting element, the first and second light-redirecting elements moving independently to scan across respective lateral dimensions of the target volume.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, wherein the illumination light enters the target region with an angle of incidence between 10° and 80°.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The device of claim 1, wherein the illumination light enters the target region with an angle of incidence between 10° and 50°.