System, devices, and methods for detecting occlusions in a biological subject

• US 20090318802A1
• Filed: 04/30/2009
• Published: 12/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonavex, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Searete LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Boyden, Edward S., Leuthardt, Eric C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,280,484 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/437
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02007 Evaluating blood vessel condition, e.g. elasticity, compliance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/412 Detecting or monitoring sepsis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7267 involving training the classification device
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/56 Details of data transmission or power supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/1726 the body parameters being measured at, or proximate to, the infusion site
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2039/2413 designed to reduce and or shut-off the flow when a certain maximum flow limit is exceeded
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2039/242 designed to open when a predetermined pressure or flow rate has been reached, e.g. check valve actuated by fluid
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2039/248 Ball-valve
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/04 implanted
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3561 local, e.g. within room or hospital
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3592 using telemetric means, e.g. radio or optical transmission
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 39/24 Check- or non-return valves
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/14276 specially adapted for implantation

Abstract

Systems, devices, and methods are described for detecting an embolus, thrombus, or a deep vein thrombus in a biological subject.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

comparing an optical energy spectral image profile of at least one of an anastomosed blood vessel, a bypassed blood vessel, a widened blood vessel, or an endarterectomized blood vessel to characteristic blood vessel spectral signature data; and

generating a response based at least in part on the comparison of the optical energy spectral image profile to the characteristic spectral signature data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the optical energy spectral image profile of the anastomosed blood vessel, the bypassed blood vessel, the widened blood vessel, or the endarterectomized blood vessel to the characteristic blood vessel spectral signature data includes comparing at least one of an absorption parameter, an extinction parameter, or a scattering parameter associated with the optical energy spectral image profile to the characteristic spectral signature data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the optical energy spectral image profile of the anastomosed blood vessel, the bypassed blood vessel, the widened blood vessel, or the endarterectomized blood vessel to the characteristic blood vessel spectral signature data includes comparing the optical energy spectral image profile to one or more heuristically determined parameters selected from at least one in vivo or in vitro determined metric.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the response includes generating at least one of an absorption value indicative of a thrombus absorption coefficient, an extinction value indicative of a thrombus extinction coefficient, or a scattering value indicative of a thrombus scattering coefficient.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the response includes generating at least one of a response signal, an absorption parameter, an extinction parameter, a scattering parameter, a comparison code, a comparison plot, a diagnostic code, a treatment code, a test code, or an alarm response based on the comparison of the detected optical energy absorption profile to the characteristic spectral signature information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the response includes generating at least one of a code indicative of a thrombus, a code indicative of an embolus, a code indicative of a location of an embolus, a code indicative of a location of a thrombus, a code indicative of at least one dimension of an embolus, or a code indicative of at least one dimension of a thrombus.

7. A method, comprising:

comparing an optical energy spectral image profile of a revascularized region of a biological subject to characteristic blood vessel spectral signature data; and

generating a response based at least in part on the comparison of the optical energy spectral image profile to the characteristic spectral signature data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein comparing the optical energy spectral image profile of the revascularized region to the characteristic blood vessel spectral signature data includes comparing at least one of an absorption parameter, an extinction parameter, or a scattering parameter associated with the optical energy spectral image profile to the characteristic spectral signature data.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein comparing the optical energy spectral image profile of the revascularized region to the characteristic blood vessel spectral signature data includes comparing the optical energy spectral image profile to one or more heuristically determined parameters selected from at least one in vivo or in vitro determined metric.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the response includes generating at least one of an absorption value indicative of a thrombus absorption coefficient, an extinction value indicative of a thrombus extinction coefficient, or a scattering value indicative of a thrombus scattering coefficient.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the response includes generating at least one of a response signal, an absorption parameter, an extinction parameter, a scattering parameter, a comparison code, a comparison plot, a diagnostic code, a treatment code, a test code, or an alarm response based on the comparison of the detected optical energy absorption profile to the characteristic spectral signature information.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the response includes generating at least one of a code indicative of a thrombus, a code indicative of an embolus, a code indicative of a location of an embolus, a code indicative of a location of a thrombus, a code indicative of at least one dimension of an embolus, or a code indicative of at least one dimension of a thrombus.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the response includes generating the response includes generating a visual, audio, or tactile representation indicative of a parameter associated with an embolus, thrombus, or a deep vein thrombus present in a region of a tissue proximate the optical energy sensor component

14. A system, comprising:

a computer-readable memory medium having biological tissue information configured as a data structure, the data structure including a tissue spectral model having at least one of

a blood spectral component,

a fat spectral component,

a muscle spectral component, or

a bone spectral component; and

a control means configured to compare a measurand associated with the biological subject to a threshold value associated with the tissue spectral model and to generate a response based on the comparison.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein at least one of the blood spectral component, the fat spectral component, the muscle spectral component, or the bone spectral component includes initial tissue spectral model information.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the control means is configured to generate the response based on the comparison of a measurand that modulates with a detected heart beat of the biological subject to a target value associated with the tissue spectral model.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the control means is configured to compare the measurand associated with the biological subject to the threshold value associated with the tissue spectral model and to generate a real-time estimation of the formation of an obstruction of a flow in a blood vessel based on the comparison.

18. An occlusion monitoring device, comprising:

an interrogation energy emitter component;

a sensor component, the sensor component configured to detect at least one of an emitted energy or a remitted energy, and to generate a first response based on a detected at least one of the emitted energy or the remitted energy; and

one or more computer-readable memory media having blood vessel spectral occlusion information configured as a data structure, the data structure including a spectral signature information section having at least one of

embolus spectral information,

arterial embolus spectral information,

thrombus spectral information,

deep vein thrombus spectral information,

blood component spectral information, or

tissue spectral information.

19. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the interrogation energy emitter component is configured to deliver at least one of an electromagnetic interrogation energy, an electrical interrogation energy, an ultrasonic interrogation energy, or a thermal interrogation energy to at least one region within a biological subject.

20. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the interrogation energy emitter component is configured to deliver an electromagnetic interrogation energy to at least one region within a biological subject, the electromagnetic interrogation energy having at least a first peak emission wavelength ranging from about 600 nm to about 850 nm, and a second peak emission wavelength ranging from about 850 nm to about 1000 nm.

21. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the interrogation energy emitter component is configured to deliver an electromagnetic interrogation energy to at least one region within a biological subject, the electromagnetic interrogation energy having at least a first peak emission wavelength ranging from about 630 nm to about 660 nm, and a second peak emission wavelength ranging from about 660 nm to about 990 nm.

22. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the interrogation energy emitter component is configured to concurrently or sequentially deliver at least a first interrogation energy and a second interrogation energy, the second interrogation energy different than the first interrogation energy;

wherein the first interrogation energy comprises an electromagnetic interrogation energy, an electrical interrogation energy, an ultrasonic interrogation energy, or a thermal interrogation energy, and the second interrogation energy comprises a different one of an electromagnetic interrogation energy, an electrical interrogation energy, an ultrasonic interrogation energy, or a thermal interrogation energy.

23. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the interrogation energy emitter component is configured to deliver an illumination pattern comprising at least a first region and a second region, the second region having at least one of an illumination intensity, an energy-emitting pattern, a peak emission wavelength, an ON-pulse duration, an OFF-pulse duration, or a pulse frequency different than the first region.

24. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the interrogation energy emitter component is configured to concurrently or sequentially deliver one or more of an electromagnetic interrogation energy, an electrical interrogation energy, an ultrasonic interrogation energy, or a thermal interrogation energy.

25. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the interrogation energy emitter component is configured to deliver electromagnetic interrogation energy to a region with a biological subject.

26. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the interrogation energy emitter component is configured to deliver electrical interrogation energy to a region with a biological subject.

27. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the interrogation energy emitter component is configured to deliver ultrasonic interrogation energy to a region with a biological subject.

28. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the interrogation energy emitter component is configured to deliver thermal interrogation energy to a region with a biological subject.

29. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, further comprising:

one or more computer-readable memory media having inflammation marker spectral information configured as a data structure, the data structure including a spectral signature information section having at least one of infection marker spectral information, inflammation marker spectral information, infective stress marker spectral information, or sepsis marker spectral information.

30. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the sensor component is configured to detect at least one of an emitted electromagnetic energy, an emitted electrical energy, an emitted ultrasonic energy, or an emitted thermal energy.

31. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the sensor component is configured to detect at least one of a remitted electromagnetic energy, a remitted electrical energy, a remitted ultrasonic energy, or a remitted thermal energy.

32. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the blood vessel spectral occlusion information includes spectral information cluster according to one or more Fuzzy C-Means Clustering protocols, Graph-Theoretic protocols, Hierarchical Clustering protocols, K-Means Clustering protocols, Locality-Sensitive Hashing protocols, Mixture of Gaussians protocols, Model-Based Clustering protocols, a Cluster-Weighted Modeling protocol, an Expectations-Maximization protocol, a Principal Components Analysis protocol, or Partitional protocols.

33. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the blood vessel spectral occlusion information includes one or more heuristically determined parameters associated with at least one in vivo or in vitro determined metric.

34. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 33, wherein the one or more heuristically determined parameters include at least one of a threshold level or a target parameter.

35. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 33, wherein the one or more heuristically determined parameters include threshold information.

36. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 33, wherein the one or more heuristically determined parameters include at least one of threshold embolus spectral signature information, threshold arterial embolus spectral signature information, threshold thrombus spectral signature information, or threshold deep vein thrombus spectral signature information.

37. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 33, wherein the one or more heuristically determined parameters include at least one of a heuristic protocol determined parameter or a heuristic algorithm determined parameter.

38. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 33, wherein the one or more heuristically determined parameters include at least one occlusion formation model seed parameter.

39. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 33, wherein the one or more heuristically determined parameters include one or more seed parameters for at least one of an occlusion spectral model, a blood spectral model, a fat spectral model, a muscle spectral model, or a bone spectral model.

40. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, further comprising:

a controller configured to cluster at least one of a detected emitted energy or detected remitted energy, into two or more information subsets using one or more Fuzzy C-Means Clustering protocols, Graph-Theoretic protocols, Hierarchical Clustering protocols, K-Means Clustering protocols, Locality-Sensitive Hashing protocols, Mixture of Gaussians protocols, Model-Based Clustering protocols, Cluster-Weighted Modeling protocols, Expectations-Maximization protocols, Principal Components Analysis protocols, or Partitional protocols.

41. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the embolus spectral information includes at least one of an embolus absorption value indicative of an embolus absorption coefficient, an embolus extinction value indicative of an embolus extinction coefficient, or an embolus scattering value indicative of an embolus scattering coefficient.

42. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the embolus spectral information includes at least one of embolus absorption coefficient data, embolus extinction coefficient data, or embolus scattering coefficient data.

43. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the arterial embolus spectral information includes at least one of a arterial embolus absorption value indicative of an arterial embolus absorption coefficient, a arterial embolus extinction value indicative of an arterial embolus extinction coefficient, or a arterial embolus scattering value indicative of an arterial embolus scattering coefficient.

44. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein arterial embolus spectral information includes at least one of arterial embolus absorption coefficient data, arterial embolus extinction coefficient data, or arterial embolus scattering coefficient data.

45. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the arterial embolus spectral information includes at least one spectral parameter associated with a peripheral artery occlusion.

46. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the thrombus spectral information includes at least one of a thrombus absorption value indicative of a thrombus absorption coefficient, a thrombus extinction value indicative of a thrombus extinction coefficient, or a thrombus scattering value indicative of a thrombus scattering coefficient.

47. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the thrombus spectral information includes at least one of thrombus absorption coefficient data, thrombus extinction coefficient data, or thrombus scattering coefficient data.

48. The occlusion monitoring device of claim 18, wherein the deep vein thrombus spectral information includes at least one of a deep vein thrombus absorption value indicative of a deep vein thrombus absorption coefficient, a deep vein thrombus extinction value indicative of a deep vein thrombus extinction coefficient, or a deep vein thrombus scattering value indicative of a deep vein thrombus scattering coefficient.

49. The occlusion-monitoring system of claim 18, wherein the deep vein thrombus spectral information includes at least one of deep vein thrombus absorption coefficient data, deep vein thrombus extinction coefficient data, or deep vein thrombus scattering coefficient data.