Multidimensional bioelectrical tissue analyzer
First Claim
1. An apparatus for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising:
- (a) a current source adapted to provide current with a predetermined current waveform, said current source being disposed so as to be capable of electrically stimulating such object;
(b) a plurality of electrodes being disposed relative to such object to receive current from such object, each of said plurality of electrodes being capable of measuring a voltage;
(c) means for controlling such current source and said plurality of electrodes to produce and receive current; and
(d) a device coupled to said plurality of electrodes and configured to perform the steps of;
(ii) calculating a plurality of complex impedances, each of said plurality of complex impedances corresponding to a current drive path defined by said current source and one of said plurality of electrodes;
(ii) constructing a multidimensional representation of the electrical characteristics of a region within said object under study using said plurality of complex impedances; and
(iii) detecting and characterizing such one or more medical pathologies within said object under study from said multidimensional representation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus that use complex impedance measurements of tissue in human or animal bodies for the detection and characterization of medical pathologies is disclosed. An analysis of the complex impedance measurements is performed by a trained evaluation system that uses a nonlinear continuum model to analyze the resistive, capacitive, and inductive measurements collected from a plurality of sensing electrodes. The analysis of the impedance measurements results in the construction of a multidimensional space that defines the tissue characteristics, which the trained evaluation system uses to detect and characterize pathologies. The method and apparatus are sufficiently general to be applied to various types of human and animal tissues for the analysis of various types of medical pathologies.
226 Citations
189 Claims
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1. An apparatus for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising:
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(a) a current source adapted to provide current with a predetermined current waveform, said current source being disposed so as to be capable of electrically stimulating such object;
(b) a plurality of electrodes being disposed relative to such object to receive current from such object, each of said plurality of electrodes being capable of measuring a voltage;
(c) means for controlling such current source and said plurality of electrodes to produce and receive current; and
(d) a device coupled to said plurality of electrodes and configured to perform the steps of;
(ii) calculating a plurality of complex impedances, each of said plurality of complex impedances corresponding to a current drive path defined by said current source and one of said plurality of electrodes;
(ii) constructing a multidimensional representation of the electrical characteristics of a region within said object under study using said plurality of complex impedances; and
(iii) detecting and characterizing such one or more medical pathologies within said object under study from said multidimensional representation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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80. An apparatus for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising:
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(a) a current source adapted to provide current with a predetermined current waveform, said current source being disposed so as to be capable of electrically stimulating such object;
(b) a plurality of electrodes being disposed relative to such object to receive current from such object, each of said plurality of electrodes being capable of measuring a voltage;
(c) means for controlling such current source and said plurality of electrodes to produce and receive current; and
(d) a device coupled to said plurality of electrodes and configured to analyze data received from said plurality of electrodes to detect and characterize such one or medical pathologies. - View Dependent Claims (81, 82, 83, 84)
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85. An apparatus for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising:
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(a) a current source adapted to provide current that electrically stimulates such object;
(b) a plurality of electrodes being disposed relative to such object to receive current from such object, each of said plurality of electrodes being capable of measuring a voltage;
(c) means for controlling such current source and said plurality of electrodes to produce and receive current; and
(d) a device coupled to said plurality of electrodes and configured to perform the steps of;
(ii) calculating a plurality of complex impedances, each of said plurality of complex impedances corresponding to a current drive path defined by said current source and one of said plurality of electrodes; and
(ii) analyzing said plurality of complex impedances to detect and characterize such one or more medical pathologies. - View Dependent Claims (86, 87)
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88. An apparatus for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising:
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(a) a current source adapted to provide current that electrically stimulates such object;
(b) a plurality of electrodes being disposed relative to such object to receive current from such object, each of said plurality of electrodes being capable of measuring a voltage;
(c) means for controlling such current source and said plurality of electrodes to produce and receive current; and
(d) a device coupled to said plurality of electrodes and configured to analyze data received from said plurality of electrodes to detect and characterize such one or medical pathologies by solving a continuum electrical model to construct a multidimensional representation of the electrical characteristics of said object under study. - View Dependent Claims (89, 90, 91)
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92. An apparatus for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising:
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(a) a current source adapted to provide current that electrically stimulates such object;
(b) a plurality of electrodes capable of measuring a voltage;
(c) means for controlling such current source and said plurality of electrodes to produce and receive current; and
(d) a device coupled to said plurality of electrodes and configured to analyze data received from said plurality of electrodes to detect and characterize such one or medical pathologies;
wherein said plurality of electrodes are disposed on at least one glove, whereby said plurality of electrodes are disposed relative to such object to receive current from such object when said at least one glove is in contact with such object. - View Dependent Claims (93)
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94. A method for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising the steps of:
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(a) stimulating such object electrically with a current source adapted to provide current with a predetermined current waveform;
(b) measuring a plurality of voltages with a plurality of electrodes disposed relative to such object for receiving current from such object;
(c) calculating a plurality of complex impedances from said plurality of voltages, each of said plurality of complex impedances corresponding to a current drive path defined by said current source and one of said plurality of electrodes;
(d) constructing a multidimensional representation of the electrical characteristics of a region within such object using said plurality of complex impedances; and
(e) detecting and characterizing such one or more medical pathologies within such object from said multidimensional representation. - View Dependent Claims (95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162)
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163. A method for assessing the efficacy of medical therapy comprising the steps of:
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(a) characterizing a medical pathology within tissue of each of a plurality of subjects, said step of characterizing comprising the substeps of;
(ii) stimulating such tissue electrically with a current source adapted to provide current with a predetermined current waveform;
(ii) measuring a plurality of voltages with a plurality of electrodes disposed relative to such tissue for receiving current from such tissue;
(iii) calculating a plurality of complex impedances from said plurality of voltages, each of said plurality of complex impedances corresponding to a current drive path defined by said current source and one of said plurality of electrodes;
(iv) constructing a multidimensional representation of the electrical characteristics of such tissue using said plurality of complex impedances; and
(v) characterizing said medical pathology within such tissue from said multidimensional representation;
(b) applying said medical therapy;
(c) repeating said step of characterizing on each of said plurality of subjects after applying said medical therapy; and
(d) evaluating the effect of said medical therapy statistically among said plurality of subjects by comparing a characterization of said medical pathology resulting from said step (a)(v) of characterizing with a characterization of said medical pathology resulting from said step (c) of repeating. - View Dependent Claims (164, 165, 166, 167, 168)
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169. A method for screening a patient for abnormal tissue comprising the steps of:
(a) characterizing a volume of tissue within said patient, said step of characterizing comprising the substeps of;
(ii) stimulating such volume electrically with a current source adapted to provide current with a predetermined current waveform;
(ii) measuring a plurality of voltages with a plurality of electrodes disposed relative to such volume for receiving current from such volume;
(iii) calculating a plurality of complex impedances from said plurality of voltages, each of said plurality of complex impedances corresponding to a current drive path defined by said current source and one of said plurality of electrodes;
(iv) constructing a multidimensional representation of the electrical characteristics of such volume using said plurality of complex impedances; and
(v) characterizing such tissue from said multidimensional representation; and
(b) comparing the characterization of such tissue with a reference tissue characterization. - View Dependent Claims (170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175)
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176. A method for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising:
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(a) stimulating such object electrically with a current source adapted to provide current with a predetermined current waveform;
(b) measuring a plurality of voltages with a plurality of electrodes disposed relative to such object for receiving current from such object; and
(c) analyzing data received from said plurality of electrodes to detect and characterize such one or more medical pathologies. - View Dependent Claims (177, 178, 179, 180)
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181. A method for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising the steps of:
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(a) stimulating such object electrically with a current source;
(b) measuring a plurality of voltages with a plurality of electrodes disposed relative to such object for receiving current from such object;
(c) calculating a plurality of complex impedances, each of said plurality of complex impedances corresponding to a current drive path defined by said current source and one of said plurality of electrodes; and
(d) analyzing said plurality of complex impedances to detect and characterize such one or more medical pathologies. - View Dependent Claims (182, 183)
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184. A method for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising:
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(a) stimulating such object electrically with a current source;
(b) measuring a plurality of voltages with a plurality of electrodes disposed relative to such object for receiving current from such object; and
(c) analyzing data received from said plurality of electrodes to detect and characterize such one or more medical pathologies by solving a continuum electrical model to construct a multidimensional representation of the electrical characteristics of said object under study. - View Dependent Claims (185, 186, 187)
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188. A method for detection and characterization of one or more medical pathologies within an object under study comprising:
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(a) stimulating such object electrically with a current source;
(b) measuring a plurality of voltages with a plurality of electrodes; and
(c) analyzing said plurality of complex impedances to detect and characterize such one or more medical pathologies;
wherein said plurality of electrodes are disposed on at least one glove, whereby said plurality of electrodes are disposed relative to such object to receive current from such object when said at least one glove is in contact with such object. - View Dependent Claims (189)
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Specification