IMPLANTABLE DEVICES AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING A CONCENTRATION OF A SUBSTANCE AND/OR MOLECULE IN BLOOD OR TISSUE OF A PATIENT
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Abstract
In a medical lead having a sensor, an implantable device connectable to such a medical lead and a method for determining the concentration of a substance and/or molecule in blood or tissue of a patient, in particular for determining the concentration of substances and or molecules such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, molecules representative of a PH value, glucose, urea, ammonia, lactose, hormones and insulin, photoluminescent molecules embedded in a carrier, in which the substance and/or molecule to be analyzed diffuse, are excited to emit light by light emitted by a light source of the sensor. The determination of the concentration of the substance and/or molecule is based on the characteristics of the light emitted by the photoluminescent molecules.
19 Citations
77 Claims
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1-61. -61. (canceled)
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62. A medical lead comprising:
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a lead body configured for in vivo implantation in a subject; a sensor carried by said lead body that determines a concentration of a blood constituent, selected from the group consisting of a substance and a molecule, in blood or tissue of the patient; said sensor comprising at least one light source that is activatable, in a measurement session, to emit light at least at a first wavelength, at least one photodetector, and a carrier having at least one type of photoluminescent molecules embedded therein that are selectively permeable to said constituent, said at least one light source and said at least one photodetector being optically coupled to said carrier; said lead body being configured to place said sensor, when said lead body is implanted in the patient, at a sensor site selected from the group consisting of in the heart of the patient, in arterial blood of the patient, in venous blood of the patient, and in tissue of a blood-containing organ of the patient, to cause said constituent to interact with said photoluminescent molecules in said carrier; said at least one type of photoluminescent molecules being selected to be excitable by said light emitted by said at least one light source to emit photoluminescent light and to react with said constituent in said carrier to alter characteristics of said photoluminescent light; said at least one photodetector detecting the photoluminescent light emitted by said photoluminescent molecules and emitting a detector output signal dependent thereon that represents a concentration of said constituent in said blood; and said carrier being configured to cause emission of said photoluminescent light from said photoluminescent molecules, and detection of said photoluminescent light by said detector, to occur within said carrier. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. An implantable device comprising:
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a lead body configured for in vivo implantation in a subject; a sensor carried by said lead body that determines a concentration of a blood constituent, selected from the group consisting of a substance and a molecule, in blood or tissue of the patient; said sensor comprising at least one light source that is activatable, in a measurement session, to emit light at least at a first wavelength, at least one photodetector, and a carrier having at least one type of photoluminescent molecules embedded therein that are selectively permeable to said constituent, said at least one light source and said at least one photodetector being optically coupled to said carrier; said lead body being configured to place said sensor, when said lead body is implanted in the patient, at a sensor site selected from the group consisting of in the heart of the patient, in arterial blood of the patient, in venous blood of the patient, and in tissue of a blood-containing organ of the patient, to cause said constituent to interact with said photoluminescent molecules in said carrier; said at least one type of photoluminescent molecules being selected to be excitable by said light emitted by said at least one light source to emit photoluminescent light and to react with said constituent in said carrier to alter characteristics of said photoluminescent light; said at least one photodetector detecting the photoluminescent light emitted by said photoluminescent molecules and emitting a detector output signal dependent thereon that represents a concentration of said constituent in said blood; said carrier being configured to cause emission of said photoluminescent light from said photoluminescent molecules, and detection of said photoluminescent light by said detector, to occur within said carrier; and an evaluation unit supplied with said signal from said detector output that identifies the concentration of said constituent from said signal. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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77. A method for determining a concentration of a constituent in blood of a patient, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a lead body configured for in vivo implantation in a subject with a sensor carried by said lead body that determines a concentration of a blood constituent, selected from the group consisting of a substance and a molecule, in blood or tissue of the patient, said sensor comprising at least one light source that is activatable, in a measurement session, to emit light at least at a first wavelength, at least one photodetector, and a carrier having at least one type of photoluminescent molecules embedded therein that are selectively permeable to said constituent, said at least one light source and said at least one photodetector being optically coupled to said carrier; implanting said lead body to place said sensor at a sensor site selected from the group consisting of in the heart of the patient, in arterial blood of the patient, in venous blood of the patient, and in tissue of a blood-containing organ of the patient, to cause said constituent to interact with said photoluminescent molecules in said carrier; selecting said at least one type of photoluminescent molecules to be excitable by said light emitted by said at least one light source to emit photoluminescent light and to react with said constituent in said carrier to alter characteristics of said photoluminescent light; detecting the photoluminescent light emitted by said photoluminescent molecules with said at least one photodetector, and emitting a detector output signal therefrom dependent thereon that represents a concentration of said constituent in said blood; and configuring said carrier to cause emission of said photoluminescent light from said photoluminescent molecules, and detection of said photoluminescent light by said detector, to occur within said carrier.
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Specification