System and method providing intracoronary laser speckle imaging for the detection of vulnerable plaque
First Claim
1. An apparatus for intracoronary laser speckle imaging, comprising:
- a light-delivery optical fiber configured to illuminate a coronary wall with laser light that scatters from the coronary wall to form laser speckle patterns;
a light-collecting fiber bundle configured to transmit laser speckle patterns formed by the scattered light, wherein fibers in the light-collecting fiber bundle are separated by at least 3 times a width of at least one fiber core so as to reduce crosstalk between fibers down to no greater than 10 percent of collected light; and
a detector configured to detect the laser speckle patterns transmitted by the light-collecting fiber bundle;
wherein the apparatus is configured to diminish effects of intervening blood on detection of laser speckle patterns by allowing no more than 200 μ
m of blood to flow between the light-collecting fiber bundle and the coronary wall.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can be provided for analyzing tissue. For example, the apparatus can include at least one first arrangement configured to illuminate at least one anatomical structure with at least one of at least one electro-magnetic radiation. The apparatus can also include at least one second arrangement that may include at least two wave-guiding arrangements associated with one another that are configured to receive a further electro-magnetic radiation reflected from the tissue and transmit at least one speckle pattern associated with the further electro-magnetic radiation. The wave-guiding arrangements may be structured so as to reduce crosstalk therebetween.
523 Citations
35 Claims
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1. An apparatus for intracoronary laser speckle imaging, comprising:
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a light-delivery optical fiber configured to illuminate a coronary wall with laser light that scatters from the coronary wall to form laser speckle patterns; a light-collecting fiber bundle configured to transmit laser speckle patterns formed by the scattered light, wherein fibers in the light-collecting fiber bundle are separated by at least 3 times a width of at least one fiber core so as to reduce crosstalk between fibers down to no greater than 10 percent of collected light; and a detector configured to detect the laser speckle patterns transmitted by the light-collecting fiber bundle; wherein the apparatus is configured to diminish effects of intervening blood on detection of laser speckle patterns by allowing no more than 200 μ
m of blood to flow between the light-collecting fiber bundle and the coronary wall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 29, 30, 31)
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7. A method for speckle imaging, comprising:
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using a light-delivery optical fiber to illuminate an anatomical structure with coherent light that scatters from the anatomical structure to form a speckle pattern; using a light-collecting fiber bundle to collect scattered light and transmit the speckle pattern formed by the scattered light, wherein fibers in the light-collecting fiber bundle are separated by at least 3 times a width of at least one fiber core so as to reduce crosstalk between fibers; and to diminish effects of intervening blood on detection of the laser speckle pattern, allowing no more than 200 μ
m of whole blood to flow between the light-collecting fiber bundle and the anatomical structure. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for speckle imaging, comprising:
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a light-delivery optical fiber configured to illuminate an anatomical structure with coherent light that scatters from the anatomical structure to form a speckle pattern; and a light-collecting fiber bundle configured to collect scattered light and transmit the speckle pattern formed by the scattered light, wherein fibers in the light-collecting fiber bundle are separated by at least 3 times a width of at least one fiber core to reduce crosstalk between fiber; wherein the apparatus is configured to diminish effects of intervening blood on detection of the laser speckle pattern by allowing no more than 200 μ
m of blood to flow between the light-collecting fiber bundle and the anatomical structure. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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32. A system for intracoronary laser speckle imaging, comprising:
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a light-delivery optical fiber configured to illuminate a target confined by a coronary wall with laser light that scatters from the target to form a laser speckle pattern; a light-collecting fiber bundle configured to transmit the laser speckle pattern formed by the scattered light; a detector configured to detect the laser speckle pattern transmitted by the light-collecting fiber bundle; and a means for diminishing effects of intervening blood on detection of laser speckle patterns by allowing no more than the optical equivalent of a 200 μ
m layer of whole blood, in diluted or undiluted form, to flow between the light-collecting fiber bundle and the coronary wall. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
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Specification