Method and apparatus for providing high contrast imaging
First Claim
1. An apparatus for detecting optical characteristics of a sub-surface object located at an object plane, comprising:
- a light source for providing an illumination beam that propagates along an illumination path defined by said light source and the object, an illumination system that transforms said illumination beam into a high contrast illumination pattern and projects said illumination pattern onto the sub-surface object; and
an imaging system that includes an image capturing device for detecting an image of the sub-surface object, said image being formed by scattered illumination from said high contrast illumination pattern that is transmitted through the sub-surface object and propagates along an image path to said image capturing device, said image path defined by the object and said image capturing means.
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Abstract
An in vivo imaging device having an illumination system that creates a virtual source within a tissue region of a subject in a non-invasive manner. The illumination system transforms a maximum amount of illumination energy from a light source into a high contrast illumination pattern. The illumination pattern is projected onto the object plane in a manner that maximizes the depth to which clear images of sub-surface features can be obtained. The high intensity portion of the illumination pattern is directed onto the object plane outside the field of view of an image capturing device that detects the image. In this configuration, scattered light from within the tissue region interacts with the object being imaged. This illumination technique provides for a high contrast image of sub-surface phenomena such as vein structure, blood flow within veins, gland structure, etc.
124 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for detecting optical characteristics of a sub-surface object located at an object plane, comprising:
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a light source for providing an illumination beam that propagates along an illumination path defined by said light source and the object, an illumination system that transforms said illumination beam into a high contrast illumination pattern and projects said illumination pattern onto the sub-surface object; and
an imaging system that includes an image capturing device for detecting an image of the sub-surface object, said image being formed by scattered illumination from said high contrast illumination pattern that is transmitted through the sub-surface object and propagates along an image path to said image capturing device, said image path defined by the object and said image capturing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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14. A spectral imaging apparatus for non-invasive, in vivo analysis of a subject'"'"'s tissue and blood, comprising:
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a light source for illuminating a region of interest, wherein a light path is formed between said light source and said region of interest;
means for transforming light emanating from said light source into an illumination pattern having a low intensity region and a high intensity region;
means for projecting said illumination pattern onto an object within said region of interest and beneath a surface of said region of interest; and
image capturing means for capturing an image of said object, wherein an image path is formed between said object and said image capturing means.
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18. A method for creating a source of illumination in a sub-surface tissue region that contains an object of interest, wherein the object is illuminated from all directions about an object plane wherein the object is located, wherein an image of said object is detected by an image capturing device, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a light source;
(b) transforming light from said light source into an illumination pattern having a high intensity portion and a low intensity portion;
(c) directing said illumination pattern onto a surface of said the tissue region such that said high intensity portion of said of said illumination pattern is incident upon said object plane outside a field of view of the image capturing device; and
(d) detecting scattered light that interacts with the object with the image capturing device, wherein said high intensity portion of said illumination pattern undergoes one or more scattering events in the sub-surface tissue region.
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23. An apparatus for optically penetrating an object and detecting subsurface optical characteristics of an object, comprising:
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a light source for illuminating the object at a wavelength such that the multiple scattering depth is small compared to the penetration depth of the illuminating light;
a first polarizer for polarizing light from said light source;
means for transforming said illuminating light source into a high contrast illumination pattern which is projected onto the object;
imaging means for detecting an image emanating from beneath the surface of the illuminated object, said image being formed by scattered illumination from said high contrast illumination pattern that is transmitted through the subsurface of the object and propagates along an image path to said imaging means; and
a second polarizer disposed in said image path between the object and said imaging means through which the scattered light passes, wherein a plane of polarization of said second polarizer is substantially orthogonal relative to a plane of polarization of said first polarizer.
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24. An apparatus for quantitatively measuring absorption properties of an imaged object, comprising:
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a light source for illuminating an object to be imaged;
a first polarizer for polarizing light from said light source;
an illumination system for transforming said illuminating light source into a high contrast illumination pattern which is projected onto the object;
imaging means for detecting an image emanating from beneath a surface of the illuminated object, said image being formed by scattered illumination from said high contrast illumination pattern that is transmitted through the subsurface of the object and propagates along an image path to said imaging means;
a second polarizer disposed in said image path, wherein a plane of polarization of said second polarizer is substantially orthogonal relative to a plane of polarization of said first polarizer; and
measuring means coupled to said imaging means for quantitatively measuring differences in absorption properties between imaged structures using said image.
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Specification