# US 2018/0020922 A1 · Devices, methods, and systems of functional optical coherence tomography > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0020922 A1 - Document ID: US20180020922A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/583,615 - Filed: 2017-05-01 - Published: 2018-01-25 - Earliest claimed: 2016-04-29 - Assignees: Northwestern University - Applicants: Northwestern University - Inventors: Wenzhong Liu; Lian Duan; Hao F. Zhang; Kieren J. Patel; Hao Li; Biqin Dong; Amani A. Fawzi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180020922A1 ## CPC - A61B 5/0066: {Optical coherence imaging} - A61B 5/0035: {adapted for acquisition of images from more than one imaging mode, e.g. combining MRI and optical tomography} - A61B 5/145: Measuring characteristics of blood in vivo, e.g. gas concentration or pH-value {; Measuring characteristics of body fluids or tissues, e.g. interstitial fluid or cerebral tissue} (non-radiation detecting or locating of foreign bodies in blood A61B5/06) - A61B 5/489: {Blood vessels} - G06T 7/0012: {Biomedical image inspection} - G06T 2207/10016: Video; Image sequence - G06T 2207/10101: Optical tomography; Optical coherence tomography [OCT] - G06T 2207/30104: Vascular flow; Blood flow; Perfusion - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL ## Abstract The present disclosure provides systems and methods for the determining a rate of change of one or more analyte concentrations in a target using non invasive non contact imaging techniques such as OCT. Generally, OCT data is acquired and optical information is extracted from OCT scans to quantitatively determine a flow rate of fluid in the target; angiography is also performed using one or more fast scanning methods to determine a concentration of one or more analytes. Both calculations can provide a means to determine a change in rate of an analyte over time. Example methods and systems of the disclosure may be used in assessing metabolism of a tissue, where oxygen is the analyte detected, or other functional states, and be generally used for the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of disease. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for imaging a target, the method comprising: a. performing optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanning on a target with one or more beams of low coherence light, wherein the one or more beams of light comprise one or more near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths; b. acquiring optical information from reflected signals generated by OCT scanning to determine a flow rate of a fluid in the target and generating a three dimensional (3D) image of the target; c. performing angiography on a target with fast scanning and/or wide field imaging using narrow band illumination; d. acquiring optical information from the angiography at multi-wavelengths; e. determining a concentration of one or more analytes including oxygen saturation, from the acquired from optical information from the angiography f. determining a rate of change of the one or more analyte concentrations in the target based on the determining of flow rate of a fluid and a concentration of one or more analytes. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the 3D-imaging in the target is performed without contacting at least one analyte with an exogenous reagent or label. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the OCT scanning generates one or more A-scans. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein angiography requires generating multiple repeated images, and calculation of differences, standard deviation among the acquired image sequence stacks at each illumination. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, comprising quantitatively imaging a flow rate of a fluid in the target and a concentration of one or more analytes in the fluid in the target, and the determining rate of change of one more analyte concentrations. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein angiography is performed with multiple wavelengths to collect optical information spectra. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more beams of light are used to perform multi-beam or multi-band scanning OCT. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 for angiography, wherein the one or more beams of light illuminate the target concurrently or sequentially. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the quantitatively imaging a flow rate of a fluid in the target and a concentration of one or more analytes in the fluid in the target occur substantially simultaneously. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the OCT scanning on the target is performed with identical or different pre-defined scanning trajectories. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the angiography on the target is performed with identical or different predetermined illumination wavelengths, bandwidth, illumination intensities. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the angiography on the target is performed with identical or different predetermined repetition times and imaging field of views. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the target is selected from the group consisting of tissue, healthy tissue, diseased tissue, retina, tumor, cancer, growth, fibroid, lesion, skin, mucosal lining, organ, graft, blood supply and one or more blood vessels. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the quantitatively imaging a flow rate of a fluid in the target is performed using invisible light. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the quantitatively imaging a concentration of one or more analytes (including oxygen saturation) in the fluid in the target is performed using visible light at multi wavelengths. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the fluid is selected from the group consisting of whole blood, blood plasma, blood serum, urine, semen, tears, sweat, saliva, lymph fluid, pleural effusion, peritoneal fluid, meningal fluid, amniotic fluid, glandular fluid, spinal fluid, conjunctival fluid, vitreous, aqueous, vaginal fluid, bile, mucus, sputum and cerebrospinal fluid. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the analyte is selected from the group consisting of oxygen, hemoglobin, oxygenated hemoglobin, deoxygenated hemoglobin, glucose, sugar, blood area nitrogen, lactate, hematocrit, biomarker and nucleic acid. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining the rate of change of one or more analytes is performed by comparing or using a reference. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein the reference is healthy tissue. ### Claim 20 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein the reference is the target in which the flow rate of a fluid and the concentration of one or more analytes have been previously been quantified. ### Claim at position 21 -56. (canceled)