Microprobe for monitoring biophysical phenomena associated with cardiac and neural activity
First Claim
1. A portable microprobe for non-invasive monitoring of biophysical activity associated with cardiac and neural activity of a life system comprising means for generating microwave radiation, a dielectric waveguide having a reducing taper coupled at its larger end to said microwave radiation generating means for concentrating and directing a localized beam of radiation through its smaller end into a localized area of the life system of interest and means at said smaller end for detecting modulated backscattered radiation from the life system of interest.
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Abstract
A portable microprobe uses 10 gigahertz CW microwave radiation at a power level of less than 10 milliwatts for recording of a number of biophysical phenomena associated with the cardiac and neural activity of the life system. The microprobe consists of a Gunn diode feeding power into a short, insulated dielectric waveguide, the free end of which houses a point contact semiconductor diode isolated by a metal shield from the incident beam. The wave guide concentrates and delivers a pencil shaped beam into the tissue of interest and the back-scattered radiation is modulated and detected by the diode. The detected signal is filtered, amplified and recorded to reflect on-going biological activity. The receiver electronics is housed in a small self-contained package and has its output connected through a flexible attachment to two ear tubes which enable continuous monitoring of the audio response through an electrical and audio converter indicative of the on-going biological activity. By scanning step wise across the chest, the microprobe allows localization of many details of cardiac activity. The microprobe can also be used to monitor activities of the brain and the spinal cord.
84 Citations
28 Claims
- 1. A portable microprobe for non-invasive monitoring of biophysical activity associated with cardiac and neural activity of a life system comprising means for generating microwave radiation, a dielectric waveguide having a reducing taper coupled at its larger end to said microwave radiation generating means for concentrating and directing a localized beam of radiation through its smaller end into a localized area of the life system of interest and means at said smaller end for detecting modulated backscattered radiation from the life system of interest.
- 14. A microwave diagnostic instrument for monitoring biophysical activity associated with cardiac and neural activity of a life system comprising a casing, a source of low power microwaves within said casing, means within said casing and coupled to said source for concentrating and directing the radiation into a localized beam of radiation from said source through an exit opening provided in said casing, detecting means disposed at said opening for detecting modulated backscattered radiation from the life system of interest and means connected to said detecting means for developing a signal modulated in accordance with the detected modulated backscattered radiation.
- 26. A portable microprobe adapted to emit microwave radiation at a power level of less than 10 milliwatts for non-invasive monitoring of biophysical activity associated with cardiac and neural activity of a life system, comprising a casing, a microwave source disposed within said casing for feeding radiation into one end of an insulated dielectric waveguide, said waveguide terminating in a free end, a semiconductor diode disposed at said free end and being shielded by a metal shield from the incident beam of radiation fed from said microwave source, said wave guide having a reducing taper in the direction of the free end so as to concentrate and deliver a pencil shaped beam of radiation into the life system, said diode being operatively connected to a receiver system so as to receive back-scattered radiation from the life system, said back-scattered radiation being modulated and detected by said diode to develop a signal indicative of the activity being monitored and means responsive to said signal for providing an output indicative of the on-going activity.
Specification