OCT based method for diagnosis and therapy

• US 20050186648A1
• Filed: 01/21/2005
• Published: 08/25/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Masimo Corporation
• Original Assignee: GlucoLight Corporation
• Inventors: Schurman, Matthew J., Shakespeare, Walter Jeffrey
• Granted Patent: US 7,510,849 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 435/14
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0066 Optical coherence imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement

Abstract

This invention relates to a method of diagnosing or treating a biological subject, such as a person or animal, comprising the steps of subjecting at least a microsample of the subject'"'"'s tissue to a physiological perturbation and measuring the response of the microsample to the perturbation using optical coherence tomography (OCT). In an exemplary embodiment, the concentration of glucose in the microsample is perturbed, as by providing the subject with a high glucose drink, and subsequently monitoring at a high sample rate in a microsample by OCT. Pathology, such as diabetes, can be diagnosed by deviation of the concentration vs. time response over several cells (micro-oscillation) from the micro-oscillation in the cells of a healthy subject. Other applications include diagnosing or treating de-hydration and diseases that cause changes in the osmolyte concentrations and thus the osmotic pressure in the cells in tissue.

Claims

1. A method of diagnosing or treating a person or animal comprising the steps of:

subjecting a sample of tissue of the person or animal to a physiological perturbation; and

measuring the response of the perturbation by optical coherence tomography.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the sample is perturbed by a high concentration of glucose.

3. The method of claim 3 wherein the response of the tissue is monitored by a plurality of optical coherence tomography measurements at sample rates of 5 minutes or less and preferably 2 minutes or less.