Non-invasive, in vivo substance measurement systems
First Claim
1. Tissue substance measuring apparatus comprising:
- an optical source comprising at least one semiconductor laser, the optical source being coupled to a tissue test site via an optical path which permits transmission of optical energy characterized as middle infrared from said optical source into said tissue; and
a pressure transducer system acoustically coupled to said tissue test site.
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Abstract
Tissue substance measurement systems are arranged with highly specialized optical sources. Quantum cascade lasers are high power semiconductor lasers which are tiny in size and highly tunable with respect to wavelength. When deployed in non-invasive tissue substance measurement systems, quantum cascade lasers offer system advantages such as high accuracy, small size, convenience, efficiency, among others. These specialized semiconductors may be used with systems based upon photoacoustic principles. Systems may be formed of a plurality of quantum cascade laser in an optical source, mechanism to couple light into tissue, an acoustic detector and a signal processor. In some versions, user interfaces provide a reporting and feedback function to a user.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. Tissue substance measuring apparatus comprising:
an optical source comprising at least one semiconductor laser, the optical source being coupled to a tissue test site via an optical path which permits transmission of optical energy characterized as middle infrared from said optical source into said tissue; and
a pressure transducer system acoustically coupled to said tissue test site.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. Methods of in-vivo substance measurement, comprising the steps:
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a) exciting a quantum cascade semiconductor laser to form an optical pulse set of middle infrared optical radiation;
b) causing said optical pulse to become incident upon human tissue being measured;
c) receiving an acoustic return signal which results from interaction between said optical pulse set and substances from which said tissue is comprised; and
d) determining from the received acoustic signal information about a substance being addressed. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 27, 28)
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- 25. Methods of 23, said current pulses include pulses arranged in a set of finite number.
Specification