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Optical imaging methods

  • US 5,845,639 A
  • Filed: 11/11/1994
  • Issued: 12/08/1998
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/10/1990
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A method for optically imaging blood flow changes in an area of interest, comprising:

  • illuminating the area of interest with uniform intensity electromagnetic radiation (emr), the emr being in one of the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum;

    acquiring a series of control frames representative of the emr absorption of the area of interest in the absence of a fluorescent dye and processing the control frames to produce an averaged control image;

    acquiring a series of subsequent frames representative of the emr absorption of the area of interest in the absence of a fluorescent dye and processing the subsequent frames to produce an averaged subsequent image; and

    obtaining a difference image by one of subtracting pixel values in the averaged control image from corresponding pixel values in the subsequent averaged image, and subtracting pixel values in the subsequent averaged image from corresponding pixel values in the averaged control image to identify changes in the emr absorption of the area of interest occurring between acquisition of the control frames and acquisition of the subsequent frames, wherein the changes in the emr absorption represent changes in blood flow.

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