Near-infrared spectroscopic analysis of blood vessel walls
First Claim
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1. An in vivo method for characterizing plaque in a wall of a blood vessel, the method comprising:
- through a liquid, illuminating tissue in the wall of the blood vessel with near-infrared radiation within a wavelength range between 1100 nm and 1415 nm;
through a liquid, detecting radiation reflected from the tissue, the radiation consisting of wavelengths between 1100 nm and 1415 nm;
processing the detected radiation to characterize the plaque; and
providing output representative of the plaque characterization.
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Abstract
The invention relates to methods and devices for characterizing tissue in vivo, e.g., in walls of blood vessels, to determine whether the tissue is healthy or diseased, and include methods of displaying results with or without thresholds.
70 Citations
26 Claims
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1. An in vivo method for characterizing plaque in a wall of a blood vessel, the method comprising:
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through a liquid, illuminating tissue in the wall of the blood vessel with near-infrared radiation within a wavelength range between 1100 nm and 1415 nm; through a liquid, detecting radiation reflected from the tissue, the radiation consisting of wavelengths between 1100 nm and 1415 nm; processing the detected radiation to characterize the plaque; and providing output representative of the plaque characterization. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for scanning and characterizing plaque in a wall of a blood vessel in vivo, comprising:
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a near-infrared radiation source that generates near-infrared radiation within a wavelength range of 1100 to 1415 nm; one or more radiation conduits for transmitting radiation from the radiation source, through a fluid, to tissue in the wall of the blood vessel and for receiving, through a fluid, radiation not absorbed by the tissue; a radiation detector that collects the radiation not absorbed by the tissue across a wavelength range of 1100 to 1415 nm; a processor that processes the collected radiation to characterize the plaque; and an output device that indicates the characterization of the plaque. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification