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US 11,627,908 B2Granted
Instruments and methods for imaging collagen structure in vivo
AssigneeUniversity of Massachusetts
InventorsAnna N. Yaroslavsky, Victor Neel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Instruments and methods for wide-field polarized imaging of the skin to determine an outer lesion margin objectively in vivo to provide guidance to a surgeon. Quantitative characterization of collagen structures in the skin can be used to determine the outer lesion margin or monitor skin treatment.
Claims25
An instrument for imaging a region of tissue to optimize in vivo determination of a boundary of a tumor, the instrument comprising:
- an illuminator configured for illuminating the region with at least one wavelength of light;
- an imaging detector configured for generating images of the region based upon cross-polarized light reflected from the region, wherein the at least one wavelength determines a depth of the images in the tissue;
- and
- a computer connected to the imaging detector and configured for receiving and storing the images, wherein the depth of the images in the tissue is selected to illustrate a collagen structure of the tissue so that the images are presented to a surgeon for determining surgical margins around the tumor based upon disruption in the collagen structure, wherein the computer is operative to:
- form a number of sub-areas of the images;
- classify each sub-area as one of:
- lesion;
- normal;
- and borderline based upon a reflectance of the sub-area, wherein:
- sub-areas classified as borderline have a reflectance within a range;
- sub-areas classified as normal have a reflectance above the range;
- and sub-areas classified as lesion have a reflectance below the range;
- and
- form an outer margin from stitching together consecutive borderline sub-areas.
11 more elements
An instrument for imaging a region of tissue to evaluate collagen structure, the instrument comprising:
- an illumination ring configured for illuminating the region with at least one wavelength of light;
- an imaging detector configured for generating images of the region based upon cross-polarized light reflected from the region over a period of time;
- and
- a computer connected to the imaging detector and configured for receiving and storing the images, wherein the images are of a depth in the tissue that illustrates the collagen structure so that the images are compared over the period of time to evaluate a treatment of the region, wherein the computer is operative to:
- form a number of sub-areas of the images;
- classify each sub-area as one of:
- lesion;
- normal;
- and borderline based upon a reflectance of the sub-area, wherein:
- sub-areas classified as borderline have a reflectance within a range;
- sub-areas classified as normal have a reflectance above the range;
- and sub-areas classified as lesion have a reflectance below the range;
- and
- form an outer margin from stitching together consecutive borderline sub-areas.
11 more elements
A method of imaging a region of tissue to optimize in vivo determination of a boundary of a tumor, the method comprising:
- illuminating the region with at least one wavelength of light;
- generating images of the region based upon cross-polarized light reflected from the region, wherein the at least one wavelength determines a depth of the images in the tissue;
- and
- receiving and storing the generated images, wherein the depth of the images in the tissue is selected to illustrate a collagen structure of the tissue;
- determining a surgical margin around the tumor based upon disruption in the collagen structure, wherein determining the surgical margin includes:
- forming a number of sub-areas of the images;
- classifying each sub-area as one of:
- lesion;
- normal;
- and borderline based upon a reflectance of the sub-area, wherein:
- sub-areas classified as borderline have a reflectance within a range;
- sub-areas classified as normal have a reflectance above the range;
- and sub-areas classified as lesion have a reflectance below the range;
- and
- forming an outer margin from stitching together consecutive borderline sub-areas.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.