Non-invasive optical imaging for measuring pulse and arterial elasticity in the brain
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An imaging system comprising:
- an illumination system configured to illuminate a region of interest (ROI) of a brain of a subject under test (SUT), the ROI having at least one blood vessel, and a reference blood vessel with photons and receive the photons after interaction with the ROI and the reference blood vessel;
a light detection mechanism including an optical detector and a signal processing section, the light detection mechanism configured to acquire the photons after interaction thereof with the ROI and the reference blood vessel to compile first imaging data representing the ROI and second imaging data representing the reference blood vessel;
a processor, in operable communication with the light detection mechanism, configured to process the first and second imaging data to determine a first shape parameter of a hemodynamic pulse in the at least one blood vessel and a second shape parameter of a hemodynamic pulse in the reference blood vessel;
a display section, in which appears a display of at least one image representing the first shape parameter of a hemodynamic pulse in the at least one blood vessel;
andtangible, non-transitory storage medium containing program code which, when downloaded on said processor, causes the processorto determine the first shape parameter from processing of the first imaging data;
to determine the second shape parameter based on processing of the second imaging data;
to compare said first and second shape parameters to determine a difference therebetween;
to transform the first imaging data to create said at least one image showing a distribution of the first shape parameter in a cross-section of the ROI;
andto form output data representing elasticity of said at least one blood vessel from the ROI based on said difference and said at least one image.
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Abstract
An optical imaging system and a method for generating a report regarding elasticity of arteries in the brain of a subject under test. Light output from the light source of the imaging system non-invasively illuminates at least one blood vessel or region of interest in the brain and, upon the interaction with the vessel, is registered with an optical detector to obtain a shape parameter of a hemodynamic pulse in the vessel. The shape parameter is further correlated to an elasticity parameter of the blood vessel(s) feeding the brain region of interest and presented in a form of report that may be a two- or a three-dimensional image of the parameter across the tested region of the brain.
10 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An imaging system comprising:
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an illumination system configured to illuminate a region of interest (ROI) of a brain of a subject under test (SUT), the ROI having at least one blood vessel, and a reference blood vessel with photons and receive the photons after interaction with the ROI and the reference blood vessel; a light detection mechanism including an optical detector and a signal processing section, the light detection mechanism configured to acquire the photons after interaction thereof with the ROI and the reference blood vessel to compile first imaging data representing the ROI and second imaging data representing the reference blood vessel; a processor, in operable communication with the light detection mechanism, configured to process the first and second imaging data to determine a first shape parameter of a hemodynamic pulse in the at least one blood vessel and a second shape parameter of a hemodynamic pulse in the reference blood vessel; a display section, in which appears a display of at least one image representing the first shape parameter of a hemodynamic pulse in the at least one blood vessel; and tangible, non-transitory storage medium containing program code which, when downloaded on said processor, causes the processor to determine the first shape parameter from processing of the first imaging data; to determine the second shape parameter based on processing of the second imaging data; to compare said first and second shape parameters to determine a difference therebetween; to transform the first imaging data to create said at least one image showing a distribution of the first shape parameter in a cross-section of the ROI; and to form output data representing elasticity of said at least one blood vessel from the ROI based on said difference and said at least one image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer program product for use on a computer system having a processor configured to create an image of a region of a brain of a subject under test based on input digital data that includes first data representing interaction between light and at least one blood vessel in said region and second data representing interaction between light and a reference blood vessel of the subject under test, the computer program product comprising a computer-usable tangible medium having a computer readable program code therein, which, when loaded into the computer system, causes the processor:
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to determine, from said input digital data, a first shape parameter of a hemodynamic pulse in said at least one blood vessel; to transform said input digital data to produce an output representing an image of said first shape parameter across said region; to determine, from said input digital data, a second shape parameter of a hemodynamic pulse in the reference blood vessel; to compare said first and second shape parameters to define a difference therebetween; and based on said difference and said image, to produce an output representing elasticity of said at least one blood vessel of said region. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. An imaging system operable to produce output data representing elasticity of at least one blood vessel of a brain of a subject under test (SUT), the system comprising:
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an illumination system configured to generate photons and to illuminate non-invasively a region of interest (ROI) of said brain with said photons and receive the photons after interaction thereof with the ROI having at least one blood vessel; and to illuminate non-invasively, and contemporaneously with illumination of said ROI, a reference blood vessel with said photons and receive the photons after interaction thereof with said reference blood vessel; a light detection mechanism including an optical detector and a signal-processing section, the light detection mechanism configured (i) to acquire photons that have been received after interaction with the ROI to compile first imaging data representing a hemodynamic pulse in said at least one blood vessel from the ROI; and (ii) to acquire photons that have been received after interaction with the reference blood vessel to compile second imaging data representing a hemodynamic pulse in said reference blood vessel; a processor in operable communication with the light detection mechanism, the processor programmed to determine a first shape of said hemodynamic pulse in said at least one blood vessel from said first imaging data; to determine a second shape of said hemodynamic pulse in said reference blood vessel from said second imaging data; to compare said first and second shapes to determine a difference therebetween; to form said output data representing elasticity of said at least one blood vessel from the ROI based on said difference; and
to create at least one image of elasticity distribution based on at least said first imaging data;and a display section, in which appears a display of a visually-perceivable representation of at least one of the first imaging data, the second imaging data, the output data, and said ROI. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification