Optical tissue measurement
AssigneeEdwards Lifesciences Corporation
InventorCarolyn Sue Martinez
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical method for determining collagen bundle orientation in bovine pericardium includes the use of a system having a light source which transmits light through a first polarizer, a tissue for making a prosthetic valve leaflet, and a second polarizer, where the light then illuminates a detector plate. The light that illuminates the detector plate is used to determine the orientation of collagen fiber bundles. The orientation of the collagen fiber bundles is used to determine where to cut the leaflet edges.
Claims20
A method for manufacturing a bioprosthetic tissue leaflet from a collagenous tissue, the method comprising:
- illuminating a piece of tissue comprising collagen with a light source having a linear polarization;
- passing light transmitted through the piece of tissue through a linear polarizer;
- detecting a first pattern in the light passed through the linear polarizer;
- determining a first orientation or a first density of collagen bundles in at least a portion of the piece of tissue from the first detected pattern;
- after determining the first orientation or first density of the collagen bundles, rotating the linear polarizer and detecting a second pattern of light passed through the linear polarizer;
- determining a second orientation or a second density of collagen bundles in at least a portion of the piece of tissue from the second detected pattern;
- selecting an area on the piece of tissue for a bioprosthetic tissue leaflet based on the first and second orientations or densities of collagen bundles;
- and
- cutting the bioprosthetic tissue leaflet including the selected area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.