Method for determining an examination point for the diaphanoscopic examination of a being and device for realizing the same
First Claim
1. A method for locating an examination site for conducting a diaphanoscopic examination of a living subject, comprising the steps of:
- successively transilluminating a region of an examination subject with radiation in a wavelength range of an optical tissue window of said region;
detecting a plurality of scattered light distributions, each represented as location-dependent spread functions, respectively for said transilluminations of said region;
for each of said spread functions, identifying at least one function-specific, location-dependent feature, and thereby obtaining a plurality of determined features; and
from said plurality of determined features, identifying a position value for an examination site within said region for subsequently conducting a diaphanoscopic examination.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a method and an apparatus for locating an examination size for diaphanoscopic examination of a living subject, a region of the living subject wherein the optimum examination location is suspected is sequentially transilluminated with radiation, preferably in a wavelength range of the optical tissue window, for registration of scattered light distributions in the form of location-related spread functions, particularly point spread functions, and at least one function-specific, location-related feature of each spread function is determined, based on which a position value defining the examination location is determined.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for locating an examination site for conducting a diaphanoscopic examination of a living subject, comprising the steps of:
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successively transilluminating a region of an examination subject with radiation in a wavelength range of an optical tissue window of said region;
detecting a plurality of scattered light distributions, each represented as location-dependent spread functions, respectively for said transilluminations of said region;
for each of said spread functions, identifying at least one function-specific, location-dependent feature, and thereby obtaining a plurality of determined features; and
from said plurality of determined features, identifying a position value for an examination site within said region for subsequently conducting a diaphanoscopic examination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
identifying a spread function, among said plurality of spread functions, having a highest overall radiation intensity, as a highest-intensity spread function;
identifying a location of a maximum of said highest-intensity spread function at said irradiation side of said region, as a first location, and identifying a location of a maximum of said highest-intensity spread function at said detection side of said region, as a second location; and
determining said further position value as an offset between said first location and said second location.
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11. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein said region has an irradiation side, at which said radiation is incoming, and a detection side, at which said radiation is detected after passing through said region, and comprising determining said further position value by the steps of:
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identifying a spread function, among said plurality of spread functions, having a highest overall radiation intensity, as a highest-intensity spread function;
identifying a location of a center of gravity of said highest-intensity spread function at said irradiation side of said region, as a first location, and identifying a location of a center of gravity of said highest-intensity spread function at said detection side of said region, as a second location; and
determining said further position value as an offset between said first location and said second location.
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12. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein said region has an irradiation side, at which said radiation is incoming, and a detection side, at which said radiation is detected after passing through said region, and wherein said further position value is determined by the steps of:
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determining a plurality of weighting factors respectively for said function-specific, location-dependent features, said weighting factors including a highest weighting factor;
identifying a spread function having a highest weighting factor, as a highest weighting factor spread function;
identifying a location of a maximum of said highest weighting factor spread function at said irradiation side of said region, as a first location, and identifying a location of a maximum of said highest weighting factor spread function at said detection side of said region, as a second location; and
determining said further position value as an offset between said first location and said second location.
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13. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein said region has an irradiation side, at which said radiation is incoming, and a detection side, at which said radiation is detected after passing through said region, and wherein said further position value is determined by the steps of:
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determining a plurality of weighting factors respectively for said function-specific, location-dependent features, said weighting factors including a highest weighting factor;
identifying a spread function having a highest weighting factor, as a highest weighting factor spread function;
identifying a location of a center of gravity of said highest weighting factor spread function at said irradiation side of said region, as a first location, and identifying a location of a center of gravity of said highest weighting factor spread function at said detection side of said region, as a second location; and
determining said further position value as an offset between said first location and said second location.
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14. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said spread functions has a maximum, and comprising the step of smoothing each of said spread functions, at least in a region of the maximum thereof, before determining the respective function-specific location-dependent features of said spread functions.
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15. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising approximating said spread functions, with respective approximation functions, before determining said function-specific, location-dependent features of the respective spread functions.
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16. A method as claimed in claim 15 comprising approximating said spread functions with Gaussian approximation functions.
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17. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising representing said scattered light distributions respectively as point spread functions.
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18. An apparatus for locating an examination site for conducting a diaphanoscopic examination of a living subject, comprising the steps of:
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a radiation unit for successively transilluminating a region of an examination subject with radiation in a wavelength range of an optical tissue window of said region;
a radiation detector disposed for detecting a plurality of scattered light distributions, each represented as location-dependent spread functions, respectively for said transilluminations of said region;
a computer supplied with said spread functions which, for each of said spread functions, identifies at least one function-specific, location-dependent feature, thereby obtaining a plurality of determined features, and which from said plurality of determined features, identifies a position value for an examination site within said region for subsequently conducting a diaphanoscopic examination. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification