Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy
First Claim
1. An apparatus for obtaining a diffuse reflectance spectrum from tissue, comprising:
- a. a generator for generating infrared energy at a plurality of wavelengths;
b. a director for directing said infrared energy to said tissue;
c. a collector for collecting infrared energy that is reflected by said tissue, wherein said collector collects infrared energy at each of the plurality of wavelengths;
d. a discriminator for discriminating between infrared energy that is diffusely reflected from a first depth within said tissue from infrared energy that is diffusely reflected from a second depth within said tissue, said discriminator specifically sized for substantially preventing said infrared energy that is diffusely reflected from the first depth from reaching said collector.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved method and apparatus for diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. A specular control device is provided that can discriminate between diffusely reflected light that is reflected from selected depths or layers within the tissue. The specular control device permits a spectroscopic analyzer to receive the diffusely reflected light that is reflected from, for example, a first layer or depth within the tissue, while preventing the remaining diffusely reflected light from reaching the spectroscopic analyzer. Furthermore, the specular control device may prevent the specularly reflected light (e.g. surface reflected light) from reaching the spectroscopic analyzer.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. An apparatus for obtaining a diffuse reflectance spectrum from tissue, comprising:
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a. a generator for generating infrared energy at a plurality of wavelengths; b. a director for directing said infrared energy to said tissue; c. a collector for collecting infrared energy that is reflected by said tissue, wherein said collector collects infrared energy at each of the plurality of wavelengths; d. a discriminator for discriminating between infrared energy that is diffusely reflected from a first depth within said tissue from infrared energy that is diffusely reflected from a second depth within said tissue, said discriminator specifically sized for substantially preventing said infrared energy that is diffusely reflected from the first depth from reaching said collector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for obtaining a diffuse reflectance spectrum from human tissue, comprising:
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a. a generator for generating infrared energy at each of a plurality of wavelengths; b. a director for directing said infrared energy to said tissue; c. a collector for collecting infrared energy that is reflected by said tissue, wherein said collector collects infrared energy at each of the plurality of wavelengths; and d. a discriminator for discriminating between infrared energy that is diffusely reflected from a first selected depth within said tissue from infrared energy that is diffusely reflected from a second selected depth, said discriminator specifically sized for substantially preventing said infrared energy that is diffusely reflected from said first selected depth from reaching said collector; and e. said discriminator comprises a blocker blade adapted to be positioned on or adjacent to the surface of said tissue, said director including an immersion lens, with said blocker blade positioned within said immersion lens.
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12. A method for obtaining a diffuse reflectance spectrum from human skin tissue for the non-invasive determination of a biological attribute thereof, the human skin tissue having an epidermis layer and a dermis layer, the method comprising the steps of:
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a. generating infrared energy at each of a first plurality of wavelengths; b. directing said infrared energy to said tissue; c. collecting infrared energy at each of the plurality of wavelengths that is reflected from the dermis layer while discouraging the collection of infrared energy that is reflected from the epidermis layer with a discriminating means; and d. determining the biological attribute by analyzing the collected infrared energy. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for obtaining a diffuse reflectance spectrum from skin tissue, the skin tissue having an epidermis layer and a dermis layer, the apparatus comprising:
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a. a source of infrared energy at each of a plurality of wavelengths for generating and delivering infrared energy to a first location on the skin tissue; b. a collector for collecting infrared energy at each of the first plurality of wavelengths reflected from the dermis layer at a second location; c. a discriminator for causing the collector to collect primarily the infrared light that is reflected from the dermis layer. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification