Multispectral/hyperspectral medical instrument

• US 20060241497A1
• Filed: 06/24/2005
• Published: 10/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: US Department of Health and Human Services (Government of the United States of America), Hypermed Imaging Incorporated
• Original Assignee: US Department of Health and Human Services (Government of the United States of America), Hypermed Imaging Incorporated
• Inventors: Freeman, Jenny H., Lewis, Edgar N.
• Granted Patent: US 8,175,688 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/476
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00009 of image signals during a use of endoscope
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/05 characterised by the image sensor, e.g. camera, being in the distal end portion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/05 Surgical care
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2576/00 Medical imaging apparatus involving image processing or analysis A61B1/00009, A61B6/52 and A61B8/52 take precedence; image processing per se G06T; details of algorithms for analysing medical images G06T7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0064 Body surface scanning
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0075 by spectroscopy, i.e. measuring spectra, e.g. Raman spectroscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy A61B5/0071 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0084 for introduction into the body, e.g. by catheters A61B5/1459 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0086 using infrared radiation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/92 Computer assisted medical diagnostics

Abstract

A medical instrument that comprises: a first-stage optic responsive to a tissue surface of a patient; a spectral separator optically responsive to the first stage optic and having a control input; an imaging sensor optically responsive to the spectral separator and having an image data output; and a diagnostic processor having an image acquisition interface with an input responsive to the imaging sensor and a filter control interface having a control output provided to the control input of the spectral separator.

Claims

1. A medical instrument, including:

a first-stage optic responsive to a tissue surface of a patient,

a spectral separator optically responsive to the first stage optic and having a control input,

an imaging sensor optically responsive to the spectral separator and having an image data output, and

a diagnostic processor having an image acquisition interface with an input responsive to the imaging sensor and a filter control interface having a control output provided to the control input of the spectral separator.

2. The medical instrument of claim 1, wherein the spectral separator is a tunable filter.

3. The medical instrument of claim 2, wherein the spectral separator is a liquid crystal tunable filter.

4. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the imaging sensor is a two-dimensional imaging array.

5. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the imaging sensor includes a charge coupled device.

6. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the imaging sensor includes an infra-red sensitive focal plane array.

7. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the diagnostic processor includes a general-purpose processing module and a plurality of diagnostic protocol modules.

8. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the first-stage optic is a macro lens.

9. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the first stage optic is an adjustable lens.

10. The medical instrument of claim 9 further including a stand connected relative to the first-stage optic to position the first-stage optic relative to the patient.

11. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the first stage optic includes a probe that includes an imaging fiber optic cable.

12. The medical instrument of claim 1 further including a surgical implement attached to the probe.

13. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the control interface is operable to adjust the filter at least twenty times to acquire hyperspectral data for redisplay in real time.

14. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the diagnostic processor includes a general-purpose processing module and a plurality of diagnostic protocol modules, wherein each of the diagnostic protocol modules includes a plurality of filter transfer functions and an image processing protocol, wherein the general-purpose processing module is operative to instruct the filter to successively apply the filter transfer functions to light collected from the patient, wherein the general-purpose processing module is operative to acquire from the imaging sensor a plurality of images of the collected light each obtained after one of the filter transfer functions is applied, and wherein the general-purpose processing module is operative to process the acquired images according to the image processing protocol to obtain a processed display image.

15. The medical instrument of claim 14 wherein the general-purpose processor is a real-time processor operative to generate a processed display image within a time period on the order of the persistence of human vision.

16. The medical instrument of claim 14 wherein the general-purpose processor is a real-time processor operative to generate a processed display image within about one minute.

17. The medical instrument of claim 16 wherein the general processor is operative to acquire some images more slowly depending on the number of wavelengths and complexity of diagnostic protocols.

18. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the diagnostic processor includes a general-purpose processing module and a diagnostic protocol module, wherein the diagnostic protocol module includes a plurality of filter transfer functions and an image processing protocol adapted to detect more than one condition, wherein the general-purpose processing module is operative to instruct the filter to successively apply the filter transfer functions to light collected from the patient, wherein the general-purpose processing module is operative to acquire from the imaging sensor a plurality of images of the collected light each obtained after one of the filter transfer functions is applied, and wherein the general-purpose processing module is operative to process the acquired images according to the image processing protocol to obtain a processed display image.

19. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the diagnostic processor includes a real-time processor operative to generate a processed display image within a time period on the order of the persistence of human vision.

20. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the diagnostic processor is operable to perform diagnostic processing for images acquired from a source that includes visible light.

21. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the filter and sensor are operable in the visible and far infra-red regions.

22. The medical instrument of claim 1 wherein the filter and sensor are operable in the ultraviolet, visible, and infra-red regions.