High-speed, rugged, time-resolved, Raman spectrometer for sensing multiple components of a sample and for diagnostics of pathological skin conditions such as cancer
First Claim
1. A Raman spectroscopy system comprising:
- a plurality of light transmission channels;
a time-division multiplexing device for distributing, in a time multiplexed manner, at least one portion of Raman Stokes radiation scattered from a biological tissue sample to each of the plurality of light transmission channels, wherein the Raman Stokes radiation is formed as a result of light impinging on the biological tissue sample;
a light detector for detecting the distributed portion of the Raman Stokes radiation passed by each of said transmission channels, further wherein each of the transmission channels comprises a filter to select a specific wavelength range for each channel;
an analyzing processor for processing a signal from the light detector to detect at least one particular condition of the biological tissue sample.
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Abstract
A new architecture for implementing a time-resolved Raman spectrometer is 2-3 orders of magnitude faster than current systems. In one embodiment, the invention employs a rotating optical switch to time multiplex an input signal through multiple band-pass filters and into a single optical detector which is electrically activated only when the filtered input light pulse is about to impact it.
Time-multiplexing the input signal through multiple optical filters and time-sequencing the optical detector enables the device to detect and analyze 2-3 orders of magnitude faster than current designs. In one embodiment, the system may be employed for the diagnostics of a pathological condition of skin tissue in patients, such as malignant melanoma or other types of skin cancers and abnormal conditions.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A Raman spectroscopy system comprising:
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a plurality of light transmission channels; a time-division multiplexing device for distributing, in a time multiplexed manner, at least one portion of Raman Stokes radiation scattered from a biological tissue sample to each of the plurality of light transmission channels, wherein the Raman Stokes radiation is formed as a result of light impinging on the biological tissue sample; a light detector for detecting the distributed portion of the Raman Stokes radiation passed by each of said transmission channels, further wherein each of the transmission channels comprises a filter to select a specific wavelength range for each channel; an analyzing processor for processing a signal from the light detector to detect at least one particular condition of the biological tissue sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 18)
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3. A Raman spectroscopy system comprising:
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a plurality of light sources, wherein each light source produces at least one continuous-wave first signal to be directed at a biological tissue sample; a time division multiplexing device for transmitting, in a time multiplexed manner, the at least one continuous-wave first signal from each light source to the biological tissue sample wherein Raman Stokes radiation is scattered as a result of the at least one continuous-wave first signal impinging on the biological tissue sample; a detector responsive to at least one portion of the scattered Raman Stokes radiation for producing a second signal representing at least one particular condition of the biological tissue sample; and a synchronizing circuit for turning on the detector at the times that the scattered Raman Stokes radiation is expected at the detector. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19, 20)
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13. A method of implementing a Raman spectroscopy procedure
which comprises: -
causing a light to impinge on a biological tissue sample thereby to scatter the light from said sample to produce Raman Stokes radiation; distributing, in a time sequence manner, at least one portion of the Raman Stokes radiation to each of a plurality of transmission channels so as to cause the at least one portion of the Raman Stokes radiation transmitted by each transmission channels to arrive in a pre-determined time sequence at an optical detector; synchronizing a process of turning on of the optical detector with the arrival, in the pre-determined sequence, at the optical detector of the at least one portion of the Raman Stokes radiation from each transmission channel; and analyzing at least one signal from the optical detector to determine at least one particular condition of the biological tissue sample. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 21)
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17. A method of implementing Raman spectroscopy comprising:
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producing, from each of a plurality of light sources, at least one continuous-wave first signal to be directed at a biological tissue sample; transmitting, in a time sequence manner, the at least one continuous-wave first signal from each light source the biological tissue sample, wherein Raman Stokes radiation is scattered as a result of the at least one continuous-wave first signal impinging on the biological tissue sample; transmitting at least one portion of the Raman Stokes radiation scattered from the biological tissue sample to a detector; producing at least one second signal at the detector representing at least one particular condition of the biological tissue sample; and synchronizing a process of turning on of the detector with the arrival at the detector of the at least one portion of the Raman Stokes radiation scattered from the biological tissue sample. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification