Diagnostic tomographic laser imaging apparatus
First Claim
1. A method of providing imaging of humanoid breast tissue, comprising the steps of:
- a) supporting a patient in face-down, prone position on a horizontal surface with a breast vertically pendent through an opening in said surface;
b) directing a succession of narrow coherent near infrared light pulses through said breast in a horizontal pattern from a plurality of positions completely surrounding said breast;
c) repeating said step b) in a plurality of closely vertically spaced horizontal planes until the entire breast has been scanned;
d) detecting said light pulses after passage through said breast tissue; and
e) deriving images of the breast tissue from said detected light pulses by computed tomography reconstruction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A laser imaging apparatus comprises a platform for supporting a female patient in front-down, prone position, including an opening permitting a breast of the patient to be vertically pendant below the surface of the platform; scanning mechanism including a multi-faceted mirror adjacent the underside of the platform, the mirror being rotated about its own axis and orbited around the pendent breast; a source of coherent near infrared narrow light pulses operably directed to the multi-faceted mirror; optical reflectors directing the light pulses onto the facets of the mirror from a point spaced from the platform for reflection in a series of horizontal fan shaped beams through a breast pendent below the platform; photodetectors operably disposed to detect the light pulses after passing through the breast; circuit for deriving voltages proportional to the intensity of the received pulses; and computer programmed for storing and displaying images of tissue in the breast derived from the voltages.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of providing imaging of humanoid breast tissue, comprising the steps of:
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a) supporting a patient in face-down, prone position on a horizontal surface with a breast vertically pendent through an opening in said surface; b) directing a succession of narrow coherent near infrared light pulses through said breast in a horizontal pattern from a plurality of positions completely surrounding said breast; c) repeating said step b) in a plurality of closely vertically spaced horizontal planes until the entire breast has been scanned; d) detecting said light pulses after passage through said breast tissue; and e) deriving images of the breast tissue from said detected light pulses by computed tomography reconstruction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A scanning chamber for use in scanning human tissue, comprising:
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a) a frame; b) a rotatable plate supported by said frame, said plate including an opening for permitting the human tissue to be disposed in said opening; c) a source of laser beam for passing through the tissue, said source being carried by said plate such that said source makes a complete orbit around said opening when said plate is rotated one complete revolution; d) photodetectors disposed in a circle on said frame adapted to detect said source of laser beam after passage through the tissue; and e) bearing assembly adapted to rotatably support said plate from said frame, said bearing assembly including an outer race secured to an opening on said frame, and an inner race secured to said plate. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A scanning chamber for use in scanning human tissue, comprising:
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a) a frame; b) a rotatable plate supported on said frame, said plate including an opening for permitting the human tissue to be suspended in said opening; c) a source of laser beam for passing through the tissue, said source of laser beam being carried by said plate such that said source of laser beam makes a complete orbit around said opening when said plate is rotated one complete revolution; d) photodetectors disposed in an arc on said plate adapted to detect said source of laser beam after passage through the tissue; and e) bearing assembly adapted to rotatably support said plate from said frame, said bearing assembly including an outer race secured to an opening on said frame, and an inner race secured to said plate. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A laser imaging apparatus, comprising:
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a) a scanning chamber including a source of laser beam for passing through a tissue and at least one photodetector adapted to respond to the laser beam exiting the tissue, said at least one photodetector having a response curve with a leading edge component; b) a time-gate switch circuit for sampling said leading edge component of said response curve for said at least one photodetector; and c) a computer programmed to generate an image of the scanned tissue from the sampled leading edge component of said response curve. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification