Imaging of oxygen by phosphorescence quenching
AssigneeOxygen Enterprises, Ltd.
InventorsDavid F. Wilson, Sergei A. Vinogradov
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Abstract
A method of real-time imaging of dissolved oxygen concentration, comprising adding an oxygen-quenched phosphorescent composition to a sample, exciting phosphorescence in the composition by illuminating the sample with pulses of light, detecting phosphorescence intensity as a function of position in the sample at first and second times following exciting pulses of light, determining oxygen concentration from the phosphorescence detected at the first and second times, generating an image of the oxygen concentration as a function of position, and repeating the exciting, detecting, determining, and image generating steps to produce a series of images showing the oxygen concentration varying over time.
Claims20
A method of imaging of dissolved oxygen concentration in a sample, comprising:
- adding to a sample an oxygen-quenched phosphorescent substance,
- exciting phosphorescence in the phosphorescent substance by illuminating the sample with pulsed light,
- detecting phosphorescence intensity as a function of position in the sample at first and second times following an exciting pulse of light,
- determining oxygen concentration from the phosphorescence detected at the first and second times,
- generating an image of the oxygen concentration as a function of position, and
- repeating the exciting, detecting, determining, and image generating steps to produce a series of images showing the oxygen concentration over time.
Apparatus for real-time imaging of dissolved oxygen concentration in a sample, comprising:
- a light source for exciting phosphorescence in a phosphorescent substance by illuminating the sample with pulses of light;
- a detector for detecting phosphorescence as a function of position in the sample at first and second times following an exciting pulse of light;
- a processor arranged to determine a difference between the phosphorescence intensity detected at the first time and the phosphorescence detected at the second time;
- and
- a display unit arranged to generate an image of a function of the determined difference as a function of position;
- wherein the detector, processor, and display unit are arranged to generate successive images at successive times.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.