Method and system for stabilizing reflected light
First Claim
1. A reflected light stabilizing system comprising:
- a light source unit for generating light;
a plurality of optical feed wave guides operatively linked to said light source for propagating the light in a first direction;
a light management system operatively linked to said plurality of optical feed wave guides for accepting light in said first direction and outputting said light to a sample, said light management system further operative to collect light reflected from the sample;
a plurality of optical collection wave guides for collecting the reflected light from the light management system propagating in a second direction;
a light stabilizing interface operatively linked to said plurality of collection wave guides for combining and stabilizing the reflected light into a substantially even spatial distribution of light energy with a substantially uniform light intensity; and
a light processing unit operatively linked to said light stabilizing interface for processing the light energy.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A light stabilizing interface operatively linked to a collection wave guides for combining and stabilizing reflected light into a substantially even spatial distribution of light energy with a substantially uniform light intensity. The stabilization and substantially even spatial distribution of reflected light can be accomplished by mixing and transmitting device in the form of a single optical fiber and optical junction wave guides in the form of optical fibers having a smaller diameter relative to the mixing and transmitting device. The stabilization and substantially even spatial distribution of reflected light also can be accomplished by a single, integral device that includes a collection wave guide matching section and a transition region. The transition region terminates in a shaped end region that is designed to substantially match the geometry of the input interface of the light processing unit. The method and system for stabilizing reflected light can also enhance the drug development process by providing real-time in-vivo chemical analysis of the interactions between drugs and living tissue.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A reflected light stabilizing system comprising:
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a light source unit for generating light;
a plurality of optical feed wave guides operatively linked to said light source for propagating the light in a first direction;
a light management system operatively linked to said plurality of optical feed wave guides for accepting light in said first direction and outputting said light to a sample, said light management system further operative to collect light reflected from the sample;
a plurality of optical collection wave guides for collecting the reflected light from the light management system propagating in a second direction;
a light stabilizing interface operatively linked to said plurality of collection wave guides for combining and stabilizing the reflected light into a substantially even spatial distribution of light energy with a substantially uniform light intensity; and
a light processing unit operatively linked to said light stabilizing interface for processing the light energy. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for creating a substantially even spatial distribution of reflected light energy, comprising the steps of:
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generating light with a light source unit;
propagating the light through a plurality of optical feed wave guides to a light management system;
outputting light to a sample;
collecting reflected light with the light management system;
collecting the reflected light from the light management system with a plurality of optical collection wave guides;
feeding the collected reflected light from the optical collection wave guides into a light stabilizing interface;
stabilizing and combining the reflected light into a substantially even spatial distribution of light energy with a substantially uniform light intensity with the light stabilizing interface; and
feeding the distributed light energy from the light stabilizing interface into a light processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification