Non-invasive biochemical analysis
First Claim
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1. A method of assessing a component of the blood of an animal, the method comprising performing the following steps non-invasively:
- irradiating a plurality of regions on a vascularized surface of the animal to generate radiation therefrom;
evaluating a first optical property of each of said plurality of irradiated regions to identify at least one of said plurality of regions on the surface exhibiting a first optical characteristic of the blood, said first optical characteristic associated with said first optical property;
selectively controlling irradiation of one or more of said plurality of regions that fail to exhibit said first optical characteristic of the blood;
obtaining a second optical property from at least one identified region in said plurality of regions exhibiting said first optical characteristic, wherein said first and said second optical properties are generated by different spectroscopic modes, wherein the second optical property is generated by transmitting radiation, generated from said at least one identified region, through a filter, thereby obtaining filtered photons;
assessing said component in said at least one identified region by evaluating said filtered photons for a second optical characteristic associated with said component; and
reporting an identity of said component based on said assessment thereof.
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Abstract
The invention relates to methods and devices for assessing one or more blood components in an animal. The present invention permits non-invasive assessment of blood components in a body structure containing blood and other tissue types by assessing multiple regions of a tissue surface for an optical characteristic of blood and separately assessing one or more optical (e.g., Raman or NIR) characteristics of the blood component for one or more regions that exhibit the optical characteristic of blood.
123 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of assessing a component of the blood of an animal, the method comprising performing the following steps non-invasively:
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irradiating a plurality of regions on a vascularized surface of the animal to generate radiation therefrom; evaluating a first optical property of each of said plurality of irradiated regions to identify at least one of said plurality of regions on the surface exhibiting a first optical characteristic of the blood, said first optical characteristic associated with said first optical property; selectively controlling irradiation of one or more of said plurality of regions that fail to exhibit said first optical characteristic of the blood; obtaining a second optical property from at least one identified region in said plurality of regions exhibiting said first optical characteristic, wherein said first and said second optical properties are generated by different spectroscopic modes, wherein the second optical property is generated by transmitting radiation, generated from said at least one identified region, through a filter, thereby obtaining filtered photons; assessing said component in said at least one identified region by evaluating said filtered photons for a second optical characteristic associated with said component; and reporting an identity of said component based on said assessment thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A device for non-invasively assessing a component of the blood of an animal, the device comprising:
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a first detector for detecting a first optical characteristic of the blood at each of multiple irradiated regions on a vascularized surface of the animal, the multiple regions having a pre-determined geometric relationship, a controller operably linked to the first detector to identify at least one of the multiple regions exhibiting said first optical characteristic of the blood, said controller being configured to selectively control irradiation of one or more of said multiple regions that fail to exhibit said first optical characteristic of the blood; a Raman detector for detecting Raman-shifted radiation; and a filter interposed between said Raman detector and said multiple regions to filter Raman-shifted radiation received from said multiple irradiated regions and transmit filtered radiation to said Raman detector; wherein said controller is operably linked to said Raman detector for restricting detection of Raman-shifted scattered radiation to only those regions exhibiting said first optical characteristic of blood and for evaluating said filtered radiation for a second optical characteristic associated with said component, wherein said controller is configured to report an identity of said component based on said evaluation.
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22. A device for non-invasively assessing a component of the blood of an animal, the device comprising:
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a radiation source for irradiating multiple regions on a vascularized surface of the animal, light being conveyed from the radiation source to each of the regions by at least one discrete optical illumination fiber for each region, the multiple regions having a pre-determined geometric relationship; a non-Raman detector for detecting a first optical characteristic of the blood at each of multiple irradiated regions on a vascularized surface of the animal, the multiple regions having a pre-determined geometric relationship; a controller operably linked to the non-Raman detector to identify at least one of the multiple regions exhibiting said first optical characteristic of the blood, said controller being configured to selectively control irradiation of one or more of said multiple regions that fail to exhibit said first optical characteristic of the blood; and a Raman detector operably linked to said controller and controlled thereby for restricting detection of Raman-shifted radiation to only those regions that exhibit said first optical characteristic of the blood, there being optically coupled with the Raman detector and interposed between the Raman detector and the regions an optical filter and at least one discrete optical detection fiber for each region; wherein said controller is configured to control said Raman detector to receive radiation from said optical filter, and wherein said controller is further configured to evaluate output of said Raman detector for a second optical characteristic associated with said component so as to report an identity of said component based on said evaluation.
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Specification