Blood flowmeter and sensor part of the blood flowmeter

• US 7,128,716 B2
• Filed: 02/01/2002
• Issued: 10/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
• Inventors: Sawada, Renshi, Ito, Takahiro, Higurashi, Eiji
• Primary Examiner(s): Nasser, Robert L.
• Application Number:
  US10/061,602
• Publication Number:
  US 20020120203A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,733 Days
• Field of Search: 600/504, 600329-344
• US Class Current: 600/504
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0261 using optical means, e.g. infrared light
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/661 using light

Abstract

A sensor part of a blood flowmeter for measuring a value on blood flow in tissue of a living body is provided, in which the sensor part includes: a light emitter for emitting light to tissue of a living body; and a light detector for receiving scattered light from the tissue; a first shading block for preventing light emitted from the light emitter from directly entering the light detector; a second shading block having a predetermined gap in front of the light detector, wherein the light emitter, the light detector and the shading blocks are integrated on a semiconductor substrate.

Claims

1. A sensor part of a blood flowmeter for measuring a value on blood flow in tissue of a living body by emitting light to said tissue of a living body and receiving scattered light from said tissue of a living body, wherein the value on blood flow is calculated based on Doppler shifts in the scattered light, said sensor part comprising:

a light emitter for emitting light to tissue of a living body, wherein said light emitter is a laser diode which emits light having a wavelength of about 1.3 μ

m;

a light detector for receiving said scattered light from said tissue of a living body;

a first shading structure on said semiconductor substrate for preventing light emitted from said light emitter from directly entering said light detector; and

a second shading structure on said semiconductor substrate in front of said light detector, said second shading structure having a predetermined gap;

wherein said light emitter and said light detector are integrated on a semiconductor substrate, and the sensor part includes an optical waveguide on said semiconductor substrate for outputting light emitted from said light emitter to said tissue of a living body by converting said light emitted from said light emitter into convergent light or parallel light, wherein said optical waveguide includes a bottom cladding, a core and a top cladding, and the light emitted from said light emitter propagates through the core, and

wherein a ratio of said predetermined gap of said second shading structure to a lateral length of the semiconductor substrate is about 2%.

2. The sensor part as claimed in claim 1, wherein said light emitter and said light detector are monolithically integrated on said semiconductor substrate.

3. The sensor part as claimed in claim 1, wherein an edge-illuminated refracting-facet photodiode is used as said light detector.

4. The sensor part as claimed in claim 1, wherein said laser diode is a DFB laser diode.

5. The sensor part as claimed in claim 1, wherein said optical waveguide is formed by using fluorinated polyimide.

6. The sensor part as claimed in claim 1, wherein said value on blood flow is a blood flow amount, a blood amount, a blood flow speed or a pulse.

7. The sensor part as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light emitter is a semiconductor laser, and the semiconductor laser is bonded to the semiconductor substrate such that the height of an active layer of the semiconductor laser is almost the same as the height of the center of the core of the optical waveguide.

8. A blood flowmeter for measuring a value on blood flow in tissue of a living body by emitting light to said tissue of a living body and receiving scattered light from said tissue of a living body, said blood flowmeter comprising a sensor part and a processor that receives a signal from the sensor part and computes the value on blood flow based on Doppler shifts in the scattered light, said sensor part comprising:

a light emitter for emitting light to tissue of a living body, wherein said light emitter is a laser diode which emits light having a wavelength of about 1.3 μ

m;

a light detector for receiving said scattered light from said tissue of a living body;

a first shading structure on said semiconductor substrate for preventing light emitted from said light emitter from directly entering said light detector; and

a second shading structure on said semiconductor substrate in front of said light detector, said second shading structure having a predetermined gap;

wherein said light emitter and said light detector are integrated on a semiconductor substrate, and the sensor part includes an optical waveguide on said semiconductor substrate for outputting light emitted from said light emitter to said tissue of a living body by converting said light emitted from said light emitter into convergent light or parallel light, wherein said optical waveguide includes a bottom cladding, a core and a top cladding, and the light emitted from said light emitter propagates through the core, and

wherein a ratio of said predetermined gap of said second shading structure to a lateral length of the semiconductor substrate is about 2%.

9. The blood flowmeter as claimed in claim 8, said blood flowmeter further comprising:

a circuit for driving said light emitter.

10. The blood flowmeter as claimed in claim 8, said blood flowmeter further comprising:

a circuit for driving said light emitter; and

a circuit for wirelessly transmitting signals output from said sensor part.

11. The blood flowmeter as claimed in claim 8, wherein the light emitter is a semiconductor laser, and the semiconductor laser is bonded to the semiconductor substrate such that the height of an active layer of the semiconductor laser is almost the same as the height of the center of the core of the optical waveguide.

12. The blood flowmeter as claimed in claim 8, wherein said optical waveguide is formed by using fluorinated polyimide.

13. The blood flowmeter as claimed in claim 8, wherein an edge-illuminated refracting-facet photodiode is used as said light detector.

14. A sensor part of a blood flowmeter for measuring a value on blood flow in tissue of a living body by emitting light to said tissue of a living body and receiving scattered light from said tissue of a living body, wherein the value on blood flow is calculated based on Doppler shifts in the scattered light, said sensor part comprising:

a light emitter for emitting light to tissue of a living body, wherein said light emitter is a laser diode which emits light having a wavelength of about 1.3 μ

m;

a light detector for receiving said scattered light from said tissue of a living body;

a first shading structure on said semiconductor substrate for preventing light emitted from said light emitter from directly entering said light detector; and

a second shading structure on said semiconductor substrate in front of said light detector, said second shading structure having a predetermined gap;

wherein said light emitter and said light detector are integrated on a semiconductor substrate, and the sensor part includes an optical waveguide on said semiconductor substrate for outputting light emitted from said light emitter to said tissue of a living body by converting said light emitted from said light emitter into convergent light or parallel light, wherein said optical waveguide includes a bottom cladding, a core and a top cladding, and the light emitted from said light emitter propagates through the core, and

wherein said predetermined gap of said second shading structure is about 65 μ

m.

15. The A blood flowmeter for measuring a value on blood flow in tissue of a living body by emitting light to said tissue of a living body and receiving scattered light from said tissue of a living body, said blood flowmeter comprising a sensor part and a processor that receives a signal from the sensor part and computes the value on blood flow based on Doppler shifts in the scattered light, said sensor part comprising:

a light emitter for emitting light to tissue of a living body, wherein said light emitter is a laser diode which emits light having a wavelength of about 1.3 μ

m;

a light detector for receiving said scattered light from said tissue of a living body;

a first shading structure on said semiconductor substrate for preventing light emitted from said light emitter from directly entering said light detector; and

a second shading structure on said semiconductor substrate in front of said light detector, said second shading structure having a predetermined gap;

wherein said light emitter and said light detector are integrated on a semiconductor substrate, and the sensor part includes an optical waveguide on said semiconductor substrate for outputting light emitted from said light emitter to said tissue of a living body by converting said light emitted from said light emitter into convergent light or parallel light, wherein said optical waveguide includes a bottom cladding, a core and a top cladding, and the light emitted from said light emitter propagates through the core, and

wherein said predetermined gap of said second shading structure is about 65 μ

m.

16. A sensor part of a blood flowmeter for measuring a value on blood flow in tissue of a living body by emitting light to said tissue of a living body and receiving scattered light from said tissue of a living body, wherein the value on blood flow is calculated based on Doppler shifts in the scattered light, said sensor part comprising:

a light emitter for emitting light to tissue of a living body; and

a light detector for receiving said scattered light from said tissue of a living body;

wherein said light emitter and said light detector are integrated on a semiconductor substrate,

said sensor part further comprising a first shading structure on said semiconductor substrate for preventing light emitted from said light emitter from directly entering said light detector, and a second shading structure on said semiconductor substrate in front of said light detector, said second shading structure having a predetermined gap,

wherein the sensor part includes an optical waveguide on said semiconductor substrate for outputting light emitted from said light emitter to said tissue of a living body by converting said light emitted from said light emitter into convergent light or parallel light, wherein said optical waveguide includes a bottom cladding, a core and a top cladding, and the light emitted from said light emitter propagates through the core, and

wherein a ratio of said predetermined gap of said second shading structure to a lateral length of the semiconductor substrate is about 2%.

17. The sensor part as claimed in claim 16, wherein an edge-illuminated refracting-facet photodiode is used as said light detector.

18. The sensor part as claimed in claim 16, wherein said optical waveguide is formed by using fluorinated polyimide.

19. The sensor part as claimed in claim 16, wherein the light emitter is a semiconductor laser, and the semiconductor laser is bonded to the semiconductor substrate such that the height of an active layer of the semiconductor laser is almost the same as the height of the center of the core of the optical waveguide.

20. A sensor part of a blood flowmeter for measuring a value on blood flow in tissue of a living body by emitting light to said tissue of a living body and receiving scattered light from said tissue of a living body, wherein the value on blood flow is calculated based on Doppler shifts in the scattered light, said sensor part comprising:

a light emitter for emitting light to tissue of a living body; and

a light detector for receiving said scattered light from said tissue of a living body;

wherein said light emitter and said light detector are integrated on a semiconductor substrate,

said sensor part further comprising a first shading structure on said semiconductor substrate for preventing light emitted from said light emitter from directly entering said light detector, and a second shading structure on said semiconductor substrate in front of said light detector, said second shading structure having a predetermined gap,

wherein the sensor part includes an optical waveguide on said semiconductor substrate for outputting light emitted from said light emitter to said tissue of a living body by converting said light emitted from said light emitter into convergent light or parallel light, wherein said optical waveguide includes a bottom cladding, a core and a top cladding, and the light emitted from said light emitter propagates through the core, and

wherein said predetermined gap of said second shading structure is about 65 μ

m.

21. A blood flowmeter for measuring a value on blood flow in tissue of a living body by emitting light to said tissue of a living body and receiving scattered light from said tissue of a living body, said blood flowmeter comprising a sensor part and a processor that receives a signal from the sensor part and computes the value on blood flow based on Doppler shifts in the scattered light, said sensor part comprising:

a light emitter for emitting light to tissue of a living body; and

a light detector for receiving said scattered light from said tissue of a living body;

wherein said light emitter and said light detector are integrated on a semiconductor substrate,

said sensor part further comprising a first shading structure on said semiconductor substrate for preventing light emitted from said light emitter from directly entering said light detector, and a second shading structure on said semiconductor substrate in front of said light detector, said second shading structure having a predetermined gap, wherein a ratio of said predetermined gap of said second shading structure to a lateral length of the semiconductor substrate is about 2%, and

wherein the sensor part includes an optical waveguide on said semiconductor substrate for outputting light emitted from said light emitter to said tissue of a living body by converting said light emitted from said light emitter into convergent light or parallel light, wherein said optical waveguide includes a bottom cladding, a core and a top cladding, and the light emitted from said light emitter propagates through the core.

22. The blood flowmeter as claimed in claim 21, said blood flowmeter further comprising:

a circuit for driving said light emitter.

23. The blood flowmeter as claimed in claim 21, said blood flowmeter further comprising:

a circuit for driving said light emitter; and

a circuit for wirelessly transmitting signals output from said sensor part.

24. The blood flowmeter as claimed in claim 21, wherein the light emitter is a semiconductor laser, and the semiconductor laser is bonded to the semiconductor substrate such that the height of an active layer of the semiconductor laser is almost the same as the height of the center of the core of the optical waveguide.

25. The blood flowmeter as claimed in claim 21, wherein said optical waveguide is formed by using fluorinated polyimide.

26. The blood flowmeter as claimed in claim 21, wherein an edge-illuminated refracting-facet photodiode is used as said light detector.

27. A blood flowmeter for measuring a value on blood flow in tissue of a living body by emitting light to said tissue of a living body and receiving scattered light from said tissue of a living body, said blood flowmeter comprising a sensor part and a processor that receives a signal from the sensor part and computes the value on blood flow based on Doppler shifts in the scattered light, said sensor part comprising:

a light emitter for emitting light to tissue of a living body; and

a light detector for receiving said scattered light from said tissue of a living body;

wherein said light emitter and said light detector are integrated on a semiconductor substrate,

said sensor part further comprising a first shading structure on said semiconductor substrate for preventing light emitted from said light emitter from directly entering said light detector, and a second shading structure on said semiconductor substrate in front of said light detector, said second shading structure having a predetermined gap,

wherein the sensor part includes an optical waveguide on said semiconductor substrate for outputting light emitted from said light emitter to said tissue of a living body by converting said light emitted from said light emitter into convergent light or parallel light, wherein said optical waveguide includes a bottom cladding, a core and a top cladding, and the light emitted from said light emitter propagates through the core;

wherein said predetermined gap of said second shading structure is about 65 μ

m.