Apparatus and method for determining tissue characteristics
First Claim
1. An instrument for determining characteristics of a target material:
- comprising;
an outer housing;
an inner core that is rotatably mounted within the outer housing. a plurality of interrogation devices mounted on the inner core in a predetermined pattern; and
a detent mechanism attached to the inner core, wherein the detent mechanism is configured to allow the inner core to be rotated between a plurality of predetermined rotational positions relative to the outer housing.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method embodying the invention include utilizing a device with a limited number of interrogation devices to accomplish a large number of measurements on a target tissue (50). An instrument embodying the invention includes a plurality of detection devices (54) that are arranged in a predetermined pattern on a tissue contacting face of the instrument. The face of the instrument is located adjacent the target tissue (50), and a plurality of tissue characteristic measurement are simultaneously conducted. The detection devices (54) are moved to a new position, preferably without moving the tissue contacting face, and a second plurality of tissue characteristic measurements are simultaneously conducted. By conducting a series of measurements cycles in this manner, the ultimate resolution of the device is increased, while still obtaining a given resolution, which reduces potential cross-talk errors. Further, a plurality of tissue characteristics are simultaneously obtained from locations spaced across the target tissue (50) during each measurement cycle.
20 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An instrument for determining characteristics of a target material:
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comprising;
an outer housing;
an inner core that is rotatably mounted within the outer housing. a plurality of interrogation devices mounted on the inner core in a predetermined pattern; and
a detent mechanism attached to the inner core, wherein the detent mechanism is configured to allow the inner core to be rotated between a plurality of predetermined rotational positions relative to the outer housing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. (canceled)
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16. An instrument for determining characteristics of a target material, comprising:
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an outer housing;
means for determining characteristics of a target material at a plurality of predetermined interrogation locations arranged in a predetermined pattern; and
means for holding the determining means in a plurality of predetermined positions relative to the outer housing. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of detecting characteristics of a target material, comprising the steps of:
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positioning a plurality of interrogation devices that are arranged in a pattern adjacent a first plurality of interrogation positions on a target material;
detecting characteristics of the target material at the first plurality of Interrogation positions;
repositioning the plurality of interrogation devices so that they are adjacent at least one additional plurality of interrogation positions on the target material, wherein the first and at least one additional plurality of positions are not coincident; and
detecting characteristics of the target material at the at least one additional plurality of interrogation positions. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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21. (canceled)
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23. (canceled)
Specification