High-frequency intensity-modulated incoherent optical source for biomedical optical imaging
First Claim
1. An illumination device comprising:
- a incoherent light source;
a non-imaging light collection system disposed to collect light emitted by said light source;
an electro-optic modulator that receives light collected by said light collection system and modulates its intensity; and
a light delivery system that receives intensity-modulated light output by said electro-optic modulator and illuminates an area with diverging intensity-modulated light.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An illumination device comprising: an incoherent light source; a non-imaging light collection system disposed to collect light emitted by the light source; an electro-optic modulator that receives light collected by the light collection system and modulates its intensity; and a light delivery system that receives intensity-modulated light output by the electro-optic modulator and illuminates an area with diverging intensity-modulated light. High-powered incoherent, multi-spectral illumination sources, such as lamps or LED arrays, are used. Non-imaging light collection elements, such as fiber optic bundles, total internal reflection lens arrays or compound parabolic light concentrators, are used to reduce the divergence of the light source for efficient transmission of light through an electro-optic modulator.
24 Citations
27 Claims
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1. An illumination device comprising:
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a incoherent light source;
a non-imaging light collection system disposed to collect light emitted by said light source;
an electro-optic modulator that receives light collected by said light collection system and modulates its intensity; and
a light delivery system that receives intensity-modulated light output by said electro-optic modulator and illuminates an area with diverging intensity-modulated light. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for illuminating a sample of biological tissue, comprising the following steps:
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(a) emitting incoherent light that diverges;
(b) collecting a portion of the emitted incoherent light and outputting it with reduced divergence;
(c) filtering the outputted incoherent light to pass selected wavelengths;
(d) modulating the intensity of the filtered incoherent light; and
(e) delivering the intensity-modulated incoherent light to a zone of illumination. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. An illumination device comprising:
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a lamp;
a bundle of optical fibers having input ends that surround a portion of said lamp to form a solid angle of light collection and also having outputs ends;
an electro-optic modulator that receives light from said output ends of said optical fibers and modulates the intensity of that light; and
a light delivery system that receives intensity-modulated light output by said electro-optic modulator and illuminates an area with diverging intensity-modulated light. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An illumination device comprising:
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an array of light-emitting diodes;
an array of light-collecting elements disposed such that light from a respective light-emitting diode impinges on an input end of a respective light-collecting element;
an electro-optic modulator that receives light from output ends of said light-collecting elements and modulates the intensity of that light; and
a light delivery system that receives intensity-modulated light output by said electro-optic modulator and illuminates an area with diverging intensity-modulated light. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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Specification