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US 11,961,236 B2Granted
Collection and analysis of data for diagnostic purposes
AssigneeUniversity Health Network
InventorRalph Dacosta
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for determining bacterial load in targets are disclosed. An autofluorescence detection and collection device includes a light source configured to illuminate a target with excitation light causing at least one biomarker in the illuminated target to fluoresce. Bacterial autofluorescence data regarding the target is collected and analyzed to determine bacterial load the target. The autofluorescence data may be analyzed using pixel intensity.
Claims30
A method of obtaining diagnostic data regarding a target, comprising:
- illuminating a target with excitation light emitted by at least one light source supported by a housing of a handheld device, the at least one light source emitting at least one wavelength or wavelength band causing at least one biomarker in the target to fluoresce;
- collecting bacterial fluorescence data regarding the target with an image sensor of the handheld device, wherein the collected bacterial fluorescence data comprises at least one image containing data relating to bacterial autofluorescence responsive to illumination of the target and/or an exogenous fluorescence of bacteria responsive to illumination of the target;
- identifying pixels in the image having an intensity above a predetermined threshold;
- and
- determining a bacterial load of the target by summing the identified pixels, wherein the bacterial load is measurable bacteria in the target.
2 more elements
A system for acquiring data regarding a wound in tissue, comprising:
- at least one excitation light source configured to illuminate a target with excitation light and cause bacteria present on and/or in the target to fluoresce;
- an optical sensor configured to detect signals responsive to illumination of bacteria on and/or in the target with excitation light, each signal indicative of at least one of endogenous fluorescence, exogenous fluorescence, absorbance, and reflectance in the illuminated target;
- a thermal sensor configured to capture thermal data regarding the target;
- and
- a processor configured to receive the detected signals, to identify pixels corresponding to bacterial fluorescence emitted from the target and having an intensity above a predetermined threshold, to calculate bacterial load of the target based on the identified pixels, and to output data regarding the bacterial load of the target.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.