Optical tomography device

• US 9,179,842 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2012
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kyoto University, Sumitomo Electric Industries Limited (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kyoto University, Sumitomo Electric Industries Limited (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Inventors: Fukuyama, Hidenao, Fujiwara, Hiroshi, Nakaji, Haruo, Iso, Yuusuke, Urayama, Shinichi, Oishi, Naoya
• Primary Examiner(s): Lyons, Michael A
• Application Number:
  US14/116,732
• Publication Number:
  US 20140168657A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,280 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/0041 Detection of breast cancer mammography by transillumination A61B5/0091, by X-rays A61B6/502, by ultrasonic means A61B8/0825
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0073 by tomography, i.e. reconstruction of 3D images from 2D projections A61B5/0066 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/02091 Tomographic interferometers, e.g. based on optical coherence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/4795 spatially resolved investigating of object in scattering medium in vivo A61B

Abstract

An optical tomography device 1 is provided as one capable of obtaining tomographic information of a measuring object with higher accuracy. In the optical tomography device 1, numerical apertures of reception fibers 12, 13 are different from each other. Therefore, the device has a configuration wherein the reception fibers 12, 13 receive two kinds of respective light beams with different solid angle distributions, whereby the device can also obtain angular information, in addition to intensity information of light emerging from a measuring object 100. As a result, the accuracy is enhanced for an analysis about the tomographic information of the measuring object.

Claims

1. An optical tomography device comprising:

a light source;

an irradiation fiber for irradiating a measuring object with light from the light source;

a receiving fiber for receiving light emerging from the measuring object in conjunction with irradiation with the light from the irradiation fiber;

a detection unit for detecting an intensity of the light received from the receiving fiber; and

an analysis unit for obtaining an optical characteristic value of an interior of the measuring object, based on the intensity of the light detected by the detection unit,

wherein at least one of the irradiation fiber and the receiving fiber is a bundle in which a plurality of optical fibers are bundled together,

wherein the plurality of optical fibers have two or more different numerical apertures, and

wherein the analysis unit obtains an average of the optical characteristic value in the interior of the measuring object, and a distribution of the optical characteristic value in the interior of the measuring object in order to determine a structure of the interior of the measuring object from the distribution of the optical characteristic value.

2. The optical tomography device according to claim 1,

wherein the analysis unit applies the result obtained by the detection unit, to a transport equation as a governing equation governing propagation of light in the measuring object, thereby obtaining the optical characteristic value of the interior of the measuring object.

3. The optical tomography device according to claim 1,

wherein the optical characteristic value is an absorption coefficient of the interior of the measuring object.

4. The optical tomography device according to claim 1,

wherein the optical characteristic value is a scattering coefficient of the interior of the measuring object.

5. The optical tomography device according to claim 1,

wherein the optical characteristic value is an anisotropic scattering parameter of the interior of the measuring object.

6. The optical tomography device according to claim 1,

wherein the irradiation fiber is the bundle in which the plurality of optical fibers are bundled together, and

wherein the optical tomography device comprises a plurality of irradiation fibers.

7. The optical tomography device according to claim 1,

wherein the receiving fiber is the bundle in which the plurality of optical fibers are bundled together, and

wherein the optical tomography device comprises a plurality of receiving fibers.

8. The optical tomography device according to claim 1,

wherein each of the irradiation fiber and the receiving fiber is connected to the light source or the detection unit, and

wherein a path switching device implements switching between connections to the light source and to the detection unit.

9. The optical tomography device according to claim 1,

wherein the irradiation fiber and the receiving fiber are bundled together in a bundle.