Glucose concentration measuring method and apparatus

• US 6,152,875 A
• Filed: 12/28/1998
• Issued: 11/28/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/25/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Hakamata, Kazuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Winakur, Eric F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cadugan, Joseph A
• Application Number:
  US09/220,851
• Time in Patent Office: 701 Days
• Field of Search: 600/316, 600/318, 600/319, 600/322
• US Class Current: 600/319
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/10 Objective types, i.e. instruments for examining the eyes independent of the patients' perceptions or reactions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14558 by polarisation

Abstract

A light beam, which has been radiated out of a predetermined light source, is irradiated to the eyeball lying at a predetermined position. Each of intensity values of first and second backward scattered light beams of the light beam having been irradiated to the eyeball is detected. The first backward scattered light beam comes from an interface between the cornea of the eyeball and the ambient air, and the second backward scattered light beam comes from an interface between the cornea and the anterior aqueous chamber of the eyeball. A refractive index of the aqueous humor, which fills the anterior aqueous chamber, is calculated from the intensity values of the first and second backward scattered light beams. A concentration of glucose in the aqueous humor is calculated in accordance with correlation between the refractive index of the aqueous humor and the concentration of glucose in the aqueous humor, which correlation has been found previously, and in accordance with the calculated refractive index of the aqueous humor.

Claims

1. A glucose concentration measuring method, comprising the steps of:

i) irradiating a light beam from a predetermined light source to an eyeball of a subject that is located at a predetermined position;

ii) detecting intensities of first and second backward scattered lights of said light beam, wherein said first backward scattered light is from an interface between a cornea of said eyeball and ambient air, and said second backward scattered light is from an interface between said cornea and an anterior aqueous chamber of said eyeball;

iii) calculating a refractive index of an aqueous humor from said intensities of said first and second backward scattered lights; and

iv) calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with a correlation between a predetermined refractive index of said aqueous humor and concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor, and in accordance with said calculated refractive index of said aqueous humor.

6. A method as defined in any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein a refractive index n1 of said cornea is calculated with the formula:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">I.sub.R1 =I.sub.0 {(n.sub.0 -n.sub.1)/(n.sub.0 +n.sub.1)}.sup.2

where I₀ represents the intensity of said light beam impinging upon said eyeball, I_R1 represents the intensity of said first backward scattered light, and n₀ represents the refractive index of said ambient air; and

a refractive index n₂ of said aqueous humor is calculated with the formula;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">I.sub.R2 =I.sub.0 (1-R1).sup.2 10.sup.-2ad {(n.sub.1 -n.sub.2)/(n.sub.1 +n.sub.2)}.sup.2

where {(n₀ -n₁)/(n₀ +n₁)}² =R1, I_R2 represents the intensity of said second backward scattered light, a represents the absorbance of said cornea, and d represents the thickness of said cornea.

7. A method as defined in any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein, with the same operation as that for the detection of said intensities of said first and second backward scattered light beam, said light beam having been radiated out of said light source is irradiated to a standard reflecting plate with a predefined reflectivity instead of said eyeball, wherein an intensity Is of said light beam having been reflected from said standard reflecting plate is detected, a reflectivity R1 of said interface between said ambient air and said cornea and a reflectivity R2 of said interface between said cornea and said anterior aqueous chamber are calculated in accordance with the detected intensity Is, a detected intensity I_R1 of said first backward scattered light, a detected intensity I_R2 of said second backward scattered light, and a reflectivity Rs of said standard reflecting plate, the calculations of said reflectivities R1 and R2 are defined with the formulas:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R1=Rs×

I.sub.R1 /Is

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R2=Rs×

I.sub.R2 /Is

a refractive index n1 of said cornea and a refractive index n0 of said ambient air is calculated from the calculated reflectivity R1 with the formula;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R1={(n.sub.0 -n.sub.1)/(n.sub.0 +n.sub.1)}.sup.2

and

a refractive index n2 of said aqueous humor and the calculated refractive index n1 of said cornea is calculated from the calculated reflectivity R2 with the formula;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R2={(n.sub.1 -n.sub.2)/(n.sub.1 +n.sub.2)}.sup.2

8.

8. A method as defined in any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein said refractive index of said aqueous humor is corrected in accordance with a temperature of said aqueous humor.

9. A method as defined in claim 8, wherein a first temperature, which is selected from a group consisting of a surface temperature of said cornea, a skin temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, and an ambient air temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, is measured;

and

said temperature of said aqueous humor is determined from a predetermined intra-eyeball temperature distribution in accordance with said first temperature.

10. A method as defined in claim 9, wherein said surface temperature of said cornea is measured by measuring infrared rays radiated out of the surface of said cornea.

11. A method as defined in claim 8, wherein a first temperature, which is selected from a group consisting of a surface temperature of said cornea, a skin temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, and an ambient air temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, is measured;

an intra-eyeball temperature distribution in accordance with said first temperature is determined; and

said temperature of said aqueous humor is determined from said intra-eyeball temperature distribution.

12. A method as defined in claim 11, wherein said surface temperature of said cornea is measured by measuring infrared rays radiated out of the surface of said cornea.

13. A method as defined in claim 8, wherein a first temperature, which is selected from a group consisting of a surface temperature of said cornea, a skin temperature in a vicinity of a cornea, and an ambient air temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, is measured;

a deep portion temperature of said anterior aqueous chamber is measured; and

said temperature of said aqueous humor is determined from a predetermined intra-eyeball temperature distribution in accordance with said first temperature and said deep portion temperature.

14. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein said deep portion temperature of said anterior aqueous chamber is measured by measuring infrared rays radiated out of a deep portion in an external auditory miatus.

15. A method as defined in claim 14, wherein said surface temperature of said cornea is measured by measuring infrared rays radiated out of the surface of said cornea.

16. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein said surface temperature of said cornea is measured by measuring infrared rays radiated out of the surface of said cornea.

17. A method as defined in claim 8, wherein a first temperature, which is selected from a group consisting of a surface temperature of said cornea, a skin temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, and an ambient air temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, is measured;

a deep portion temperature of said anterior aqueous chamber is measured;

an intra-eyeball temperature distribution in accordance with said first temperature and said deep portion temperature is determined; and

said temperature of said aqueous humor is determined from said intra-eyeball temperature distribution.

18. A method as defined in claim 17, wherein deep portion temperature of said anterior aqueous chamber is measured by measuring infrared rays radiated out of a deep portion in an external auditory miatus.

19. A method as defined in claim 18, wherein said surface temperature of said cornea is measured by measuring infrared rays radiated out of the surface of said cornea.

20. A method as defined in claim 17, wherein said surface temperature of said cornea is measured by measuring infrared rays radiated out of the surface of said cornea.

21. A method as defined in claim 8, wherein a temperature distribution of said cornea is determined in accordance with an intra-eyeball temperature distribution, and a correction is made for at least one of a refractive index and an absorbance of said cornea in accordance with said temperature distribution of said cornea.

23. A method as defined in any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 22, wherein said light source is a semiconductor laser;

and

an ND filter is located in an optical path of a laser beam that has been radiated out of said semiconductor laser, wherein said ND filter is inclined with respect to a plane that is normal to a direction of travel of said laser beam to obstruct return light from impinging upon said semiconductor laser.

24. A method as defined in any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 22, wherein a correlation between the refractive index of said aqueous humor and said concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor is represented by the formula:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">n=1.3332 2+1.6×

10.sup.-6 ×

G

where n represents said refractive index of said aqueous humor, and G represents said concentration of glucose (in mg/dl).

2. A glucose concentration measuring method, comprising the steps of:

i) splitting a low coherence light beam from a predetermined light source into a signal light beam and a reference light beam, each of which travels along or one of two different optical paths;

ii) modulating at least one of said signal light beam and said reference light beam, wherein a slight difference in frequency occurs between them;

iii) irradiating said signal light beam to an eyeball of a subject that is located at a predetermined position;

iv) producing a first backward scattered light of said signal light beam, wherein said first backward scattered light is from an interface between a cornea of said eyeball and ambient air, and said reference light beam interferes with said first backward scattered light by adjusting an optical path length of said reference light beam to create a first interference light beam;

v) measuring an intensity of said first interference light beam;

vi) calculating an intensity of said first backward scattered light from said intensity of said first interference light beam;

vii) producing a second backward scattered light of said signal light beam, said second backward scattered light is from an interface between an anterior aqueous chamber and said cornea of said eyeball, and said reference light beam interferes with said second backward scattered light by adjusting said optical path length of said reference light beam to create a second interference light beam;

viii) measuring an intensity of said second interference light beam;

ix) calculating an intensity of said second backward scattered light from said intensity of said second interference light beam;

x) calculating a refractive index of an aqueous humor from said intensities of said first and second backward scattered lights; and

xi) calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with a correlation between a predetermined refractive index of said aqueous humor and concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor, and in accordance with said calculated refractive index of said aqueous humor.

3. A glucose concentration measuring method, comprising the steps of:

i) splitting a coherent light beam from a predetermined light source, the frequency of which is swept temporally in a sawtooth-like form, into a signal light beam and a reference light beam, each of which travels along one of two different optical paths;

ii) irradiating said signal light beam to an eyeball of a subject that is located at a predetermined position;

iii) producing a first backward scattered light of said signal light beam, wherein said first backward scattered light is from an interface between a cornea of said eyeball and ambient air, and said reference light beam interferes with said first backward scattered light and includes said coherent light beam, which has been radiated out of said light source with a difference in time in accordance with a difference between an optical path length of said signal light beam and said first backward scattered light and an optical path length of said reference light beam, and which has a difference in frequency with respect to said first backward scattered light, to create a first interference light beam;

iv) measuring an intensity of said first interference light beam;

v) calculating an intensity of said first backward scattered light from said intensity of said first interference light beam;

vi) producing a second backward scattered light of said signal light, said second backward scattered light is from an interface between an anterior aqueous chamber and said cornea of said eyeball, and said reference light beam interferes with said first backward scattered light and includes said coherent light beam, which has been radiated out of said light ;

source with a difference in time in accordance with a difference between an optical path length of said signal light beam and said second backward scattered light and an optical path length of said reference light beam, and which has a difference in frequency with respect to said second backward scattered light, to create a second interference light beam;

vii) measuring an intensity of said second interference light beam;

viii) calculating an intensity of said second backward scattered light from said intensity of said second interference light beam;

ix) calculating a refractive index of an aqueous humor from said intensities of said first and second backward scattered lights and

x) calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with a correlation between a predetermined refractive index of said aqueous humor and concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor, and in accordance with said calculated refractive index of said aqueous humor.

4. A glucose concentration measuring method, comprising the steps of:

i) irradiating an ultrashort pulsed light beam from a predetermined light source to an eyeball of a subject;

ii) measuring intensities of first and second backward scattered lights of said ultrashort pulsed light beam by temporally separating said first and second backward scattered lights from each other, wherein said first backward scattered light is from an interface between a cornea of said eyeball and ambient air, and said second backward scattered light is from an interface between an anterior aqueous chamber and said cornea of said eyeball;

iii) calculating a refractive index of an aqueous humor from said intensities of said first and second backward scattered lights; and

iv) calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with a correlation between a predetermined refractive index of said aqueous humor and concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor, and in accordance with said calculated refractive index of said aqueous humor.

5. A glucose concentration measuring method, comprising the steps of:

i) irradiating a light beam from a predetermined light source to an eyeball of a subject that is located at a predetermined position;

ii) detecting intensities of first and second backward scattered lights of said light beam, wherein said first backward scattered light is from an interface between a cornea of said eyeball and ambient air, and said second backward scattered light is from an interface between an anterior aqueous chamber and said cornea of said eyeball, said intensities are detected at a position that is conjugate with the corresponding interface by use of a confocal optical system, in which one of focusing points is set at each of said interfaces;

iii) calculating a refractive index of an aqueous humor from said intensities of said first and second backward scattered lights and

iv) calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with a correlation between a predetermined refractive index of said aqueous humor and concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor, and in accordance with said calculated refractive index of said aqueous humor.

22. A glucose concentration measuring method, comprising the steps of:

i) irradiating a circularly polarized light beam from a predetermined light source to an eyeball of a subject that is located at a predetermined position, wherein said circularly polarized light beam impinges said eyeball at a predetermined angle of incidence;

ii) detecting an elliptically polarized state of backward scattered light of said circularly polarized light beam, wherein said backward scattered light is from an interface between an anterior aqueous chamber and a cornea of said eyeball, the elliptically polarized state being detected at a position that is conjugate with said interface by use of a confocal optical system;

iii) calculating a refractive index of an aqueous humor in accordance with said elliptically polarized state of said backward scattered light; and

iv) calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with a correlation between a predetermined refractive index of said aqueous humor and concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor, and in accordance with said calculated refractive index of said aqueous humor.

25. A glucose concentration measuring apparatus, comprising:

i) a light source for irradiating a light beam to an eyeball of a subject that is located at a predetermined position;

ii) a photodetector for detecting intensities of first and second backward scattered lights of said light beam, wherein said first backward scattered light is from an interface between a cornea of said eyeball and ambient air, and said second backward scattered light is from an interface between said cornea and an anterior aqueous chamber of said eyeball;

iii) a refractive index calculating means for calculating a refractive index of said aqueous humor from said intensities of said first and second backward scattered lights;

iv) a storage section operable to store predetermined information representing a correspondence relationship between said refractive index of said aqueous humor and a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor; and

v) a glucose concentration calculating means for calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with the stored correspondence relationship and the calculated refractive index of the aqueous humor.

30. An apparatus as defined in any one of claims 25, 26, 27, 28, or 29, wherein said refractive index calculating means calculates a refractive index n1 of said cornea with the formula:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">I.sub.R1 =I.sub.0 {(n.sub.0 -n.sub.1)/(n.sub.0 +n.sub.1)}.sup.2

where I₀ represents the intensity of said light beam impinging upon said eyeball, I_R1 represents the intensity of said first backward scattered light, and n0 represents the refractive index of said ambient air, and

said refractive index calculating means calculates a refractive index n2 of said aqueous humor with the formula;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">I.sub.R2 =I.sub.0 (1-R11).sup.2 10.sup.-2ad {(n.sub.1 -n.sub.2)/(n.sub.1 +n.sub.2)}.sup.2

where {(n₀ -n₁)/(n₀ +n₁)}² =R1, I_R2 represents the intensity of said second backward scattered light, a represents the absorbance of said cornea, and d represents the thickness of said cornea.

31. An apparatus as defined in any one of claims 25, 26, 27, 28, or 29, wherein a standard reflecting plate with a predefined reflectivity is located to be inserted into and retreated from an optical path of said light beam in front of said eyeball;

said refractive index calculating means calculates a reflectivity R1 of said interface between said ambient air and said cornea and a reflectivity R2 of said interface between said cornea and said anterior aqueous chamber in accordance with an intensity Is of said light beam having been reflected from said standard reflecting plate, which intensity is detected by said photodetector, a detected intensity I_R1 of said first backward scattered light, a detected intensity I_R2 of said second backward scattered light, and a reflectivity Rs of said standard reflecting plate, the calculations of said reflectivities R1 and R2 are defined with the formulas;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R1=Rs×

I.sub.R1 /Is

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R2=Rs×

I.sub.R2 /Is

said refractive index calculating means calculates a refractive index n₁ of said cornea and a refractive index n₀ of said ambient air from the calculated reflectivity R1 with the formula;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R1={(n.sub.0 -n.sub.1)/(n.sub.0 +n.sub.1)}.sup.2

and

said refractive index calculating means calculates a refractive index n₂ of aqueous humor and the calculated refractive index n₁ of said cornea from the calculated reflectivity R2 with the formula;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R2={(n.sub.1 -n.sub.2)/(n.sub.1 -n.sub.2)}.sup.2

32. An apparatus as defined in any one of claims 25, 26, 27, 28, or 29, further comprising an aqueous humor refractive index correcting means for correcting said refractive index of said aqueous humor in accordance with a temperature of said aqueous humor.

33. An apparatus as defined in claim 32, wherein said aqueous humor refractive index correcting means comprises:

an outer surface temperature detecting means for measuring a first temperature, which is selected from a group consisting of a surface temperature of said cornea, a skin temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, and an ambient air temperature in a vicinity of said cornea;

a predetermined intra-eyeball temperature distribution table in accordance with said first temperature; and

an aqueous humor temperature determining means for determining said temperature of said aqueous humor by making reference to said intra-eyeball temperature distribution table and in accordance with said first temperature.

34. An apparatus as defined in claim 33, wherein said outer surface temperature detecting means is an infrared measuring means for measuring infrared rays radiated out of a surface of said cornea.

35. An apparatus as defined in claim 32, wherein said aqueous humor refractive index correcting means comprises:

an outer surface temperature detecting means for measuring a first temperature, which is selected from a group consisting of a surface temperature of said cornea, a skin temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, and an ambient air temperature in a vicinity of said cornea;

an intra-eyeball temperature distribution determining means for determining an intra-eyeball temperature distribution in accordance with said first temperature; and

an aqueous humor temperature determining means for determining said temperature of said aqueous humor from said intra-eyeball temperature distribution.

36. An apparatus as defined in claim 35, wherein said outer surface temperature detecting means is an infrared measuring means for measuring infrared rays radiated out of a surface of said cornea.

37. An apparatus as defined in claim 32, wherein said aqueous humor refractive index correcting means comprises:

an outer surface temperature detecting means for measuring a first temperature, which is selected from a group consisting of a surface temperature of said cornea, a skin temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, and an ambient air temperature in a vicinity of said cornea;

a deep portion temperature detecting means for measuring a deep portion temperature of said anterior aqueous chamber;

a predetermined intra-eyeball temperature distribution table set in accordance with said first temperature; and

an aqueous humor temperature determining means for determining said temperature of said aqueous humor by making reference to said intra-eyeball temperature distribution table.

38. An apparatus as defined in claim 37, wherein said deep portion temperature detecting means is an infrared measuring means for measuring infrared rays radiated out of a deep portion in an external auditory miatus.

39. An apparatus as defined in claim 38, wherein said outer surface temperature detecting means is an infrared measuring means for measuring infrared rays radiated out of a surface of said cornea.

40. An apparatus as defined in claim 37, wherein said outer surface temperature detecting means is an infrared measuring means for measuring infrared rays radiated out of a surface of said cornea.

41. An apparatus as defined in claim 32, wherein said aqueous humor refractive index correcting means comprises:

an outer surface temperature detecting means for measuring a first temperature, which is selected from a group consisting of a surface temperature of said cornea, a skin temperature in a vicinity of said cornea, and an ambient air temperature in a vicinity of said cornea;

a deed portion temperature detecting means for measuring a deep portion temperature of said anterior aqueous chamber;

an intra-eyeball temperature distribution determining means for determining an intra-eyeball temperature distribution in accordance with said first temperature; and

an aqueous humor temperature determining means for determining said temperature of said aqueous humor from said intra-eyeball temperature distribution.

42. An apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein said deep portion temperature detecting means is an infrared measuring means for measuring infrared rays radiated out of a deep portion in an external auditory miatus.

43. An apparatus as defined in claim 42, wherein said outer surface temperature detecting means is an infrared measuring means for measuring infrared rays radiated out of a surface of said cornea.

44. An apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein said outer surface temperature detecting means is an infrared measuring means for measuring infrared rays radiated out of a surface of said cornea.

45. An apparatus as defined in claim 32, further comprising a cornea optical characteristics correcting means for determining a temperature distribution of said cornea in accordance with an intra-eyeball temperature distribution, and making a correction for at least one of a refractive index and an absorbance of said cornea and in accordance with said temperature distribution of said cornea.

47. An apparatus as defined in any one of claims 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, or 46, wherein said light source device is a semiconductor laser;

and

an ND filter is located in an optical path of a laser beam that has been radiated out of said semiconductor laser, wherein said ND filter is inclined with respect to a plane that is normal to a direction of travel of said laser beam to obstruct return light from impinging upon said semiconductor laser.

48. An apparatus as defined in any one of claims 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, or 46, wherein a correlation, which is stored in said storage section, is represented by the formula:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">n=1.33322+1.6×

10.sup.-6 ×

G

where n represents said refractive index of said aqueous humor, and G represents said concentration of glucose (in mg/dl).

26. A glucose concentration measuring apparatus, comprising:

i) a light source device for radiating out a low coherence light beam to an eyeball of a subject;

ii) an optical path splitting means for splitting said low coherence light beam into a signal light beam and a reference light beam, each of which travels along one of two different optical paths;

iii) a modulation means, located in at least one of the two different optical paths, for modulating at least one of said signal light beam and said reference light beam, wherein a slight difference in frequency occurs between them;

iv) an optical path length adjusting means for adjusting a length of said optical path which said reference light beam travels

v) a wavefront matching means for;

matching a wave front of a first backward scattered light of said signal light and a wave front of said reference light beam with each other, wherein said first backward scattered light is from an interface between a cornea of said eyeball and ambient air; and

matching a wave front of a second backward scattered light of said signal light and a wave front of said reference light beam with each other, said second backward scattered light is from an interface between an anterior aqueous chamber and said cornea of said eyeball;

vi) a photodetector for photoelectrically detecting an intensity of a first interference light beam, which is obtained from the matching of said wave front of said first backward scattered light and said wave front of said reference light beam with each other, and an intensity of a second interference light beam, which is obtained from the matching of wave front of said second backward scattered light and said wave front of said reference light beam with each other;

vii) a heterodyne operation means for calculating intensities of said first and second backward scattered lights from said intensity of said first and second interference light beams, respectively;

viii) a refractive index calculating means for calculating a refractive index of an aqueous humor from said intensities of said first and second backward scattered lights;

ix) a storage section operable to store predetermined information representing a correspondence relationship between said refractive index of said aqueous humor and a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor; and

x) a glucose concentration calculating means for calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with the stored correspondence relationship and the calculated refractive.

27. A glucose concentration measuring apparatus, comprising:

i) a light source device for radiating out a coherent light beam, the frequency of which is swept temporally in a sawtooth-like form;

ii) an optical path splitting means for splitting said coherent light beam into a signal light beam irradiated to an eyeball of a subject and a reference light beam, each of which travels along one of two different optical paths;

iii) a wavefront matching means for;

matching a wave front of a first backward scattered light of said signal light beam and a wave front of said reference light beam with each other, wherein said first backward scattered light is from an interface between a cornea of said eyeball and ambient air, and said reference light beam includes said coherent light beam, which has been radiated out of said light source device with a difference in time in accordance with a difference between an optical path length of said signal light beam and said first backward scattered light and an optical path length of said reference light beam, and which has a difference in frequency with respect to said first backward scattered light beam; and

matching a wave front of a second backward scattered light of said signal light beam and a wave front of said reference light beam with each other, said second backward scattered light is from an interface between an anterior aqueous chamber and said cornea of said eyeball, and said reference light beam includes said coherent light beam, which has been radiated out of said light source device with a difference in time in accordance with a difference between said optical path length of said signal light beam and said second backward scattered light and said optical path length of said reference light beam, and which has a difference in frequency with respect to said second backward scattered light;

iv) a photodetector for photoelectrically detecting an intensity of a first interference light beam, which is obtained from the matching of said wave front of said first backward scattered light and said wave front of said reference light beam, said reference light beam having a slight difference in frequency with respect to said first backward scattered light, and an intensity of a second interference light beam, which is obtained from the matching of said wave front of said second backward scattered light and said wave front of said reference light beam, said reference light beam having a slight difference in frequency with respect to said second backward scattered light;

v) a heterodyne operation means for calculating an intensity of said first backward scattered light from said intensity of said first interference light beam, and calculating an intensity of said second backward scattered light from said intensity of said second interference light beam;

vi) a refractive index calculating means for calculating a refractive index of said aqueous humor from said intensity of said first backward scattered light and said intensity of said second backward scattered light;

vii) a storage section operable to store predetermined information representing a correspondence relationship between said refractive index of said aqueous humor and a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor; and

viii) a glucose concentration calculating means for calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with the stored correspondence relationship and the calculated refractive index of the aqueous humor.

28. A glucose concentration measuring apparatus, comprising:

i) a light source device for radiating out an ultrashort pulsed light beam;

ii) an optical time-domain backward scattering measurement means for irradiating said ultrashort pulsed light beam to an eyeball of a subject, and carrying out a time series measurement of intensities of first and second backward scattered lights of said ultrashort pulsed light beam, wherein said first backward scattered light is from an interface between a cornea of said eyeball and ambient air, and said second backward scattered light is from an interface between an anterior aquecus chamber and said cornea of said eyeball;

iii) a refractive index calculating means for calculating a refractive index of an aqueous humor from said intensity of said first backward scattered light and said intensity of said second backward scattered light;

iv) a storage section operable to store predetermined information representing a correspondence relationship between said refractive index of said aqueous humor and a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor; and

v) a glucose concentration calculating means for calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with the stored correspondence relationship and the calculated refractive index of the aqueous humor.

29. A glucose concentration measuring apparatus, comprising:

i) a light source device for irradiating a light beam to an eyeball of a subject that is located at a predetermined position;

ii) a confocal optical system for spatially separating first and second backward scattered lights of said light beam, wherein said first backward scattered light is from an interface between a cornea of said eyeball and ambient air, and said second backward scattered light is from an interface between an anterior aqueous chamber and said cornea of said eyeball;

iii) a photodetector for detecting intensities of said first and second backward scattered lights that have been spatially separated from each other;

iv) a refractive index calculating means for calculating a refractive index of said aqueous humor from said intensities of said first and second backward scattered lights;

v) a storage section operable to store predetermined information representing a correspondence relationship between said refractive index of said aqueous humor and a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor; and

vi) a glucose concentration calculating means for calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with the stored correspondence relationship and the calculated refractive index of the aqueous humor.

46. A glucose concentration measuring apparatus, comprising:

i) a light source device for irradiating a circularly polarized light beam to an eyeball of a subject that is located at a predetermined position, wherein said circularly polarized light beam impinges upon said eyeball at a predetermined angle of incidence;

ii) a confocal optical system for extracting a backward scattered light of said circularly polarized light beam, wherein said backward scattered light is from an interface between an anterior aqueous chamber and a cornea of said eyeball;

iii) an elliptically polarized state detecting means for detecting an elliptically polarized state of the extracted backward scattered light;

iv) a refractive index calculating means for calculating a refractive index of an aqueous humor in accordance with said elliptically polarized state of said backward scattered light;

v) a storage section operable to store predetermined information representing a correspondence relationship between said refractive index of said aqueous humor and a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor; and

vi) a glucose concentration calculating means for calculating a concentration of glucose in said aqueous humor in accordance with the stored correspondence relationship and the calculated refractive index of the aqueous humor.