Non-spectrophotometric measurement of analyte concentrations and optical properties of objects
First Claim
1. In an apparatus for determining the concentration of a constituent of interest in a sample having:
- a radiation source generating a spectrum of illuminating radiation for illuminating a portion of said sample;
a sample chamber for fixing said portion of said sample in a substantially fixed location relative to said radiation source;
detection means having a plurality of detectors adapted to generate an output responsive to radiation transmitted by emitted by or reflected from, said sample, each of said detectors having a spectral response in a portion of said spectrum of illuminating radiation emitted by said radiation source, each of said detectors having a separate peak spectral response and at least a partial overlap in spectral response characteristics with that of at least one other of said detectors; and
analysis means tier analyzing said outputs from the detectors to generate a signal indicative of the concentration of said constituent;
the improvement comprising;
said apparatus being constructed such that each of said detectors is located such that it congruently samples the radiation from said sample.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Improvements in non-invasive detection methods for glucose and other constituents of interest in a sample have been developed. The apparatus and methods of the invention provide an analog of color perception of human vision, preferably in the near infrared region, replacing spectrophotometers and narrow band sources used in other non-invasive near infrared detection methods. A plurality of detector units are used, each covering a broad and overlapping region of the detected spectrum, paralleling color perception and colorimetry. The improvements are primarily concerned with improving the signal-to-background (or noise) ratio such that the data stream is improved. These improvements use congruent sampling, comparison of different data streams from different sample portions or filter sets, using an interrogation system with sufficient speed to allow testing of arterial blood, and using a filter with a spectral structure. In some circumstances, a neural net is used for analysis, allowing the system to learn. A novel method for background discrimination is also described.
266 Citations
84 Claims
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1. In an apparatus for determining the concentration of a constituent of interest in a sample having:
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a radiation source generating a spectrum of illuminating radiation for illuminating a portion of said sample; a sample chamber for fixing said portion of said sample in a substantially fixed location relative to said radiation source; detection means having a plurality of detectors adapted to generate an output responsive to radiation transmitted by emitted by or reflected from, said sample, each of said detectors having a spectral response in a portion of said spectrum of illuminating radiation emitted by said radiation source, each of said detectors having a separate peak spectral response and at least a partial overlap in spectral response characteristics with that of at least one other of said detectors; and analysis means tier analyzing said outputs from the detectors to generate a signal indicative of the concentration of said constituent; the improvement comprising; said apparatus being constructed such that each of said detectors is located such that it congruently samples the radiation from said sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. In an apparatus for determining the concentration of a constituent of interest in a sample having:
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a radiation source generating a spectrum of illuminating radiation for illuminating a portion of said sample; a sample chamber for fixing said portion of said sample in a substantially fixed location relative to said radiation source; detection means having a plurality of detectors adapted to generate an output responsive to radiation transmitted by emitted by, or reflected from said sample, each of said detectors having a spectral response in a portion of said spectrum of illuminating radiation emitted by said radiation source, each of said detectors having a separate peak spectral response and at least a partial overlap in spectral response characteristics with that of at least one other of said detectors; and analysis means for analyzing the outputs from said detectors to generate a data signal indicative of the concentration of said constituent; the improvement comprising; having at least two detection means, a first detection means generating a first data stream formed of a composite of a data signal component indicative of said concentration of said constituent and a background component and a second detection means generating a second data stream formed of a composite of a data signal component indicative of said concentration of said constituent and a background component; and said analysis means comprising means adapted for comparing said first data stream with said second data stream in order to generate an information signal indicative of the concentration of said constituent while rendering the interfering features of the background from said first and second data streams to be less distinct than the background is in either data stream individually. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. In an apparatus for determining the concentration of a constituent of interest in a sample having:
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a radiation source generating a spectrum of illuminating radiation for illuminating a portion of said sample; at least one sample chamber for fixing said portion of said sample in a substantially fixed location relative to said radiation source; detection means having a plurality of detectors adapted to generate an output, each of said detectors having a spectral response to a portion of said spectrum of illuminating radiation emitted by said radiation source, each of said detector having a separate peak spectral response and at least a partial overlap in spectral response characteristics with that of a least one other of said detectors; and analysis means for analyzing the outputs from said detectors to generate a data signal component component indicative of the concentration of said constituent; the improvement comprising; having at least two detection means, a first detection means adapted to receive radiation transmitted or reflected from a first sample portion which is in a first sample chamber, said first detector means generating a first data stream formed of a composite of a data signal component indicative of said concentration of said constituent and a background component, and a second detection means adapted to receive radiation transmitted or reflected from a second sample portion which is in a second sample chamber, said second detection means generating a second data stream formed of a composite of a data signal component indicative of said concentration of said constituent and a background component; and said analysis means comprising means adapted for comparing said first data stream with said second data stream in order to generate an information signal indicative of the concentration of said constituent while rendering the interfering features of the background from said first data stream and said second data stream to be less distinct than the background is in either data stream individually. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. In an apparatus for determining the concentration of a constituent in a sample having:
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a radiation source generating a spectrum of illuminating radiation for illuminating a portion of said sample; a sample chamber for fixing said portion of said sample in a substantially fixed location relative to said radiation source; detection means having a plurality of detectors adapted to generate an output, each of said detectors having a filter which transmits or reflects a portion of the spectrum of illuminating radiation emitted by said radiation source, each of said filters having a separate peak transmittance or reflection response and at least a partial overlap in transmittance or reflectance characteristics with at least one other of said filters; and analysis means for analyzing the outputs from the detectors to generate a signal indicative of the concentration of said constituent; the improvement comprising; having at least one of said filters in said detection means being selected from the group consisting of filters having spectral structure such that it has multiple absorbance bands in the portion of the spectrum over which it transmits or reflects radiation, and filters which have only a single narrow transmittance or reflectance range. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. In an apparatus for determining the concentration of a constituent in a sample having:
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a radiation source generating a spectrum of illuminating radiation for illuminating a portion of said sample; a sample chamber for fixing said portion of said sample in a substantially fixed location relative to said radiation source; detection means having a plurality of detectors adapted to generate an output, each of said detectors having a spectral response in a portion of the spectrum of illuminating radiation emitted by said radiation source, each of said detectors having a separate peak spectral response and at least a partial overlap in spectral response characteristics with at least one other of said detectors; and analysis means for analyzing the outputs from the detectors to generate a data signal component indicative of the concentration of said constituent; the improvement comprising; providing interrogation means which collects the outputs from said detectors in sufficiently rapid manner to observe a distinct arterial pulse wave form so to allow differentiation of constituents of interest in arterial blood, as opposed to venous or tissue blood, in said sample. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method for determining the concentration of a constituent of interest in a sample comprising the steps of:
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fixing a portion of said sample of interest in a position such that it can be illuminated with a spectrum of radiation from a radiation source; illuminating said portion of said sample of interest with said spectrum of radiation from said radiation source; detecting radiation transmitted or reflected from said sample, said detection being carried out by detection means containing a plurality of individual detectors, each of said detectors having a peak spectral response distinct from the peak spectral response any other of said detectors, said detectors each having overlap in spectral response with at least one of said other detectors, each of said detectors being located relative to said fixed portion of said sample such that each of said detectors provides congruent sampling with the others of said detectors; generating a data stream corresponding to said detected radiation from each of said detectors; and analyzing said data streams to obtain a measure of concentration. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A method for determining the concentration of a constituent of interest in a sample comprising the steps of:
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fixing a portion of said sample of interest in a position such that it can be illuminated with a spectrum of radiation from a radiation source; illuminating said portion of said sample of interest with said spectrum of radiation from said radiation source; detecting radiation transmitted or reflected from said sample, said detection being carried out by at least a first detection means and a second detection means each containing a plurality of individual detectors, each of said detectors having a peak spectral response distinct from the peak spectral response any other of said detectors in the same detection means, said detectors having an overlap in spectral response with at least one of said other detectors in said same detection means, whereby said first detection means generates a first data stream formed of a composite of a data signal component indicative of said concentration of said constituent and a background component and said second detection means generates a second data stream formed of a composite of a data signal component indicative of said concentration of said constituent and a background component; and said analysis means compares said first data stream with said second data stream in order to generate an information signal indicative of the concentration of said constituent while rendering the interfering features of the background from said first and second data streams to be less distinct than the background in either data stream individually. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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69. A method for determining the concentration of a constituent of interest in a sample comprising the steps of:
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fixing a portion of said sample of interest in a position such that it can be illuminated with a spectrum of radiation from a radiation source; illuminating said portion of said sample of interest with a spectrum of radiation from said radiation source; detecting radiation transmitted or reflected from said sample, said detection being carded out by detection means containing a plurality of individual detectors, each of said detectors having an associated filter which has a peak transmittance or reflectance distinct from the peak transmittance or reflectance any other of said filters, said filters each having overlap in transmittance or reflectance characteristics with at least one of said other filters, at least one of said filters being selected from the group consisting of filters having a spectral response such that it has reflectance or transmittance bands in the portion of the spectrum over which it transmits or reflects radiation, and filters which have only a narrow transmittance or reflectance range; generating a signal corresponding to said detected radiation from each of said detectors; and analyzing said signals to obtain a measure of concentration. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. A method for determining the concentration of a constituent of interest in a sample comprising the steps of:
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fixing a portion of said sample of interest in a position such that it can be illuminated with a spectrum of radiation from a radiation source; illuminating said portion of said sample of interest with a spectrum of radiation from a radiation source; detecting radiation transmitted or reflected from said sample, said detection being carried out by detection means containing a plurality of individual detectors, each of said detectors having a peak spectral response distinct from the peak spectral response of any other of said detectors, said detectors each having overlap in spectral response characteristics with at least one of said other detectors; collecting outputs from each of said detectors using a interrogation means which has a sufficiently rapid response to observe a distinct arterial pulse such that the data collected can be correlated to arterial blood levels of said constituent of interest; generating a data signal component corresponding to said collected outputs; and
analyzing said data signal component components to obtain a measure of concentration. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84)
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Specification