System and method for confocal imaging within dermal tissue
First Claim
1. A system for recording on a recording medium the location of one or more tissue sections imaged by a microscope, said system comprising:
- a microscope for imaging in-vivo tissue of a body of a patient to provide one or more images of one or more tissue sections;
means for moving a part of said microscope and the body of the patient with respect to each other in one or more directions during imaging to view different parts of the in-vivo tissue of the patient with said microscope; and
means for applying force to the body of the patient to stabilize the tissue when imaged by said microscope, and said means for applying force having an opening that restricts the extent of the stabilized tissue presentable to the microscope for imaging to that within said opening;
means, coupled to said moving means, for recording on a recording medium information associated with one or more locations of the in-vivo tissue of the patient of said one or more images of tissue sections.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved system for confocal imaging within dermal tissue of a patient is provided which minimizes instability in confocal images by reducing the relative motion of the tissue with respect to the confocal imaging optics of the system. The system includes a mechanism for maintaining an area of skin tissue under stress by application of force at the edges of the area, and an imaging head coupled to this mechanism for imaging the stressed skin. The mechanism includes a mechanical structure, such as a platen, brace, or attachment, which both supports the imaging head of the system and applies stress to a limited surface area of the tissue to minimize skin motion during confocal imaging.
58 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system for recording on a recording medium the location of one or more tissue sections imaged by a microscope, said system comprising:
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a microscope for imaging in-vivo tissue of a body of a patient to provide one or more images of one or more tissue sections; means for moving a part of said microscope and the body of the patient with respect to each other in one or more directions during imaging to view different parts of the in-vivo tissue of the patient with said microscope; and means for applying force to the body of the patient to stabilize the tissue when imaged by said microscope, and said means for applying force having an opening that restricts the extent of the stabilized tissue presentable to the microscope for imaging to that within said opening; means, coupled to said moving means, for recording on a recording medium information associated with one or more locations of the in-vivo tissue of the patient of said one or more images of tissue sections. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for recording on a recording medium the location of one or more tissue sections imaged by a microscope, said method comprising the steps of:
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moving with respect to each other a part of a microscope that images one or more tissue sections of in-vivo tissue, and a body of a patient, in one or more directions during imaging to view different parts of the in-vivo tissue of the patient; stabilizing said tissue when imaged by the microscope using a device that applies force to the body of the patient and has an opening which restricts the extent of the stabilized tissue presentable to the microscope for imaging to that within said opening; and recording on a recording medium positional information relative to said in-vivo tissue of one or more tissue sections imaged by the microscope. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. An apparatus for recording on a recording medium the location of one or more tissue sections imaged by a microscope, said apparatus comprising:
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a microscope which images in-vivo tissue of a body of a patient; a device which applies force to the body of the patient to stabilize the tissue when imaged by said microscope, wherein said device has an opening and restricts the extent of the stabilized tissue presentable to the microscope for imaging to that within said opening; a recording medium disposed on a surface positionally related to the surface of the tissue through which said microscope images the in-vivo tissue of the body of the patient; and a pen or marker to mark on said recording medium positional information relative to the tissue imaged by the microscope. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for recording on a recording medium the location of one or more tissue sections imaged by a microscope, said apparatus comprising:
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a microscope which comprises optics through which said microscope images in-vivo tissue of a body of a patient to provide one or more images of one or more tissue sections; a first device which with applied force to the body of a patient stabilizes the in-vivo tissue with respect to said optics, wherein said first device has an opening that restricts the extent of the stabilized tissue presentable to the microscope for imaging to that within said opening; a recording medium; and a second device linked to said microscope to record on said recording medium one or more positions relative to said optics with respect to said stabilized tissue by said first device during capture of the images of the one or more tissue sections by said microscope. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A system for recording on a recording medium the location of one or more tissue sections imaged by a microscope, said system comprising:
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a microscope which comprises optics through which said microscope images tissue to produce images of one or more tissue sections; a recording medium; a first device linked to said microscope to record on said recording medium one or more positions relative to said optics with respect to the tissue during capture of one or more images of one or more tissue sections by said microscope; a second device for recording one or more locations upon said tissue imaged by said microscope in which said one or more locations are recorded upon said tissue in accordance with the one or more positions recorded by said first device on said recording medium to enable a user to locate structure present in said one or more images of said one or more tissue sections; and a third device attachable to said microscope having a bottom surface for placing the tissue under stress by application of force by said bottom surface against the body of the patient to stabilize the tissue with respect to said optics, wherein said third device has an opening in said bottom surface, and said opening restricts the extent of the stabilized tissue presentable to said microscope for imaging to that within the opening. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification