Portable tissue spectroscopy apparatus and method
AssigneeBoston Scientific Corporation
InventorsRobert J. Crowley, Mark A. Hamm
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A portable tissue spectroscopy apparatus includes at least one light source, at least one light detector, a power source and a controller module all disposed inside a housing that is insertable inside a body. The housing may be in the form of a hand-holdable probe or in the form of a capsule that can be swallowed or implanted in the body. The probe further includes a display mounted at a proximal end of the housing for displaying tissue characteristics. The capsule further includes a transmitter mounted inside the capsule and a receiver placed outside the body for transmitting signals representative of tissue characteristics to a remote receiver.
Claims55
A tissue spectroscopy apparatus, comprising:
- a housing insertable in a cavity of a body;
- at least one light source disposed in the housing for illuminating tissue in the body, the light source emitting an output light;
- at least one light detector disposed in the housing for detecting spectroscopic properties of the illuminated tissue;
- a filter on each said at least one light detector, the filter admitting light within a predetermined wavelength range corresponding to a physiological characteristic of interest;
- a power source disposed in the housing for powering said at least one light source and said at least one light detector;
- and
- at least one indicator located on a proximal end of the housing for displaying an indication of the spectroscopic properties of the illuminated tissue.
A method for performing a tissue spectroscopy, comprising:
- (a) inserting a probe in a body cavity, such that a distal end of the probe is positioned adjacent a tissue, while a proximal end remains outside the body cavity;
- (b) illuminating the tissue in the body with an output light emitted by at least one light source disposed in the probe;
- (c) using a filter to admit input light from the illuminated tissue only within a wavelength range corresponding to a physiological characteristic of interest;
- (d) detecting properties of the filtered input light with at least one light detector disposed in the probe;
- and
- (e) displaying the detected properties on at least one indicator located on the proximal end of the probe, the properties indicating characteristics of the illuminated tissue.
A tissue spectroscopy apparatus, comprising:
- a housing insertable in a cavity of a body;
- at least one light source disposed in the housing for illuminating tissue in the body, the light source emitting an output light;
- a plurality of light detectors disposed in the housing for detecting spectroscopic properties of the illuminated tissue;
- a filter on at least one of the light detectors, the filter admitting light within a predetermined wavelength range corresponding to a physiological characteristic of interest;
- a power source disposed in the housing for powering at least one of the light sources and at least one of the light detectors;
- and
- an indicator located on a proximal end of the housing for displaying an indication of the spectroscopic properties of the illuminated tissue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.