Method and device for the optical spectroscopic identification of cervical cancer
First Claim
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1. A medical examination device comprising:
- an illumination source, wherein the illumination source includes a lamp and a light directing device for selectably directing a beam of light from the lamp in either a first beam direction or in a second beam direction;
a visualization means positioned a set distance from a region of interest, wherein the visualization means configured for visualizing a first macroscopic image of a first macroscopic tissue site within the region of interest, wherein the visualization means receives the beam of light directed in the first beam direction from the illumination source and radiates the macroscopic tissue site with the received beam of light and visualizes the first macroscopic image from a first emitted light beam emanating from the macroscopic tissue site illuminated with the beam of light directed in the first beam directiona fiber optic probe having a shaft, a handle, and a fiber optic bundle having a plurality of excitation fiber optic strands and a collection fiber optic strand, the excitation fibers and the collection fiber transversing the fiber optic probe from a proximal end of the probe to a transverse distal end of the probe,wherein a proxinial end of the excitation fiber optic strands of the probe are optically coupled to the beam of light whenever the beam of light is directed in the second beam direction and wherein the proximal end of the excitation fiber optic strands at the proximal end of the probe collects the coupled beam of light and transmits the beam of light through the excitation fiber optic strands to a distal end of the excitation fiber optical strands at the distal end of the probe configured to illuminate a selected microscopic tissue are within the region of interest when in contact with the transverse distal end of the fiber optic probe,wherein the selected microscopic tissue area is within the microscopic tissue site and wherein the visualization means configured to visualize a placement of the distal end of the probe when in contact with the microscopic tissue area when the beam of light is in the first beam direction,and wherein a distal end of the collection fiber optic strand collects a second emitted light beam emanating from the microscopic tissue area illuminated with the beam of light transmitted by the excitation fiber optic strands and transmits the second emitted light beam to a proximal end of the collection fiber optic strand at the proximal end of the probe;
a detector in optical communication with the proximal end of the collection fiber optic strand, wherein the detector detects a plurality of emission wavelengths in the second emitted light beam; and
a processor for calculating from the detected plurality of emission wavelengths a probability that the microscopic tissue is diseased.
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Abstract
A medical examination device used for the detection of pre-cancerous and cancerous tissue has an illumination source, a visualization unit, a contacting optical probe, a detector and a process unit. One embodiment of the apparatus includes both a non-contacting macroscopic viewing device (the visualization unit) for visualizing an interior surface of the cervix, as well as a fiber optic wand (contacting optical probe) for spectrally analyzing a microscopic view of the tissue.
39 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A medical examination device comprising:
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an illumination source, wherein the illumination source includes a lamp and a light directing device for selectably directing a beam of light from the lamp in either a first beam direction or in a second beam direction; a visualization means positioned a set distance from a region of interest, wherein the visualization means configured for visualizing a first macroscopic image of a first macroscopic tissue site within the region of interest, wherein the visualization means receives the beam of light directed in the first beam direction from the illumination source and radiates the macroscopic tissue site with the received beam of light and visualizes the first macroscopic image from a first emitted light beam emanating from the macroscopic tissue site illuminated with the beam of light directed in the first beam direction a fiber optic probe having a shaft, a handle, and a fiber optic bundle having a plurality of excitation fiber optic strands and a collection fiber optic strand, the excitation fibers and the collection fiber transversing the fiber optic probe from a proximal end of the probe to a transverse distal end of the probe, wherein a proxinial end of the excitation fiber optic strands of the probe are optically coupled to the beam of light whenever the beam of light is directed in the second beam direction and wherein the proximal end of the excitation fiber optic strands at the proximal end of the probe collects the coupled beam of light and transmits the beam of light through the excitation fiber optic strands to a distal end of the excitation fiber optical strands at the distal end of the probe configured to illuminate a selected microscopic tissue are within the region of interest when in contact with the transverse distal end of the fiber optic probe, wherein the selected microscopic tissue area is within the microscopic tissue site and wherein the visualization means configured to visualize a placement of the distal end of the probe when in contact with the microscopic tissue area when the beam of light is in the first beam direction, and wherein a distal end of the collection fiber optic strand collects a second emitted light beam emanating from the microscopic tissue area illuminated with the beam of light transmitted by the excitation fiber optic strands and transmits the second emitted light beam to a proximal end of the collection fiber optic strand at the proximal end of the probe; a detector in optical communication with the proximal end of the collection fiber optic strand, wherein the detector detects a plurality of emission wavelengths in the second emitted light beam; and a processor for calculating from the detected plurality of emission wavelengths a probability that the microscopic tissue is diseased. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A medical examination device comprising:
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an illumination source, wherein the illumination source includes a lamp and a plurality of selectable engageable filters, the lamp generates a beam of light and one of the selectably engageable filters is used to filter the beam of light to a selected wavelength; a light directing device for seleetably directing the entire filtered beam of light from the lamp in either a first beam direction or in a second beam direction; a visualization means positioned a set distance from a region of interest, wherein the visualizing means configured for visualizing a macroscopic view of an illuminated macroscopic tissue site within the region of interest, wherein the visualization means receives the beam of light directed in the first beam direction, illuminates the macroscopic tissue site with the directed beam of the light directed in the first beam direction, and visualize a first emitted light beam emanating from the macroscopic tissue site illuminated with the directed beam of light directed in the first direction for a direct visualization of the macroscopic view of the illuminated macroscopic tissue site by a user of the examination device; a fiber optic probe having a shaft, a handle, and a fiber optic bundle having a plurality of excitation fiber optic strands and a collection fiber optic strand, wherein the fiber optic probe is moveable in relationship to the visualization means and in relationship to the macroscopic tissue site, wherein a microscopic tissue area within the macroscopic tissue is selected and wherein the visualization means configured to visualize a placement of the distal end of the probe when in contact with the microscopic tissue area when the beam of light is in the first beam direction, wherein the excitation strands of the probe are optically coupled to the beam of light whenever the beam of light is directed in the second beam direction and wherein the excitation fiber optic strands transmit the beam of light to illuminate the selected microscopic tissue area limited by a contact surface of the distal end of the fiber optic probe, and wherein the collection fiber optic strand collects a second emitted light beam emanating from the microscopic tissue area illuminated with the beam of light transmitted by the excitation fiber optic strands; a detector for detecting a plurality of emission wavelengths from the second emitted light beam; a processor in communication with the illumination source, the light directing device, the fiber optic probe, and the detector; and a user interface unit in communication with the processor, wherein the user interface unit informs the processor to selectably direct the beam of light in the first beam direction or in the second beam direction and to selectably activate the visualization unit or the fiber optic probe. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of detecting cervical cancer comprising the steps of:
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generating a beam of light from an illumination source; directing the entire beam of light in a first beam direction; illuminating a macroscopic tissue site of a cervix with the beam of light in the first beam direction; visualizing the illuminated macroscopic tissue site by visualizing an emitted light beam from the illuminated macroscopic tissue site; selecting a microscopic tissue site within the illuminated macroscopic tissue site for further investigation; watching a placement of a distal end of a fiber optic probe in contact with the selected microscopic tissue site while the macroscopic tissue site is still illuminated by the beam of light in the first beam direction; activating a light directing device to direct the entire beam of light in a second beam direction; generating a set of selected wavelengths from the beam of light by sequentially engaging a set of filters to filter the beam of light from the illumination source; transmitting the set of wavelengths in the second beam direction to the fiber optic probe having a plurality of excitation optic fibers and a collection optic fiber; sequentially transmitting the set of wavelengths through the excitation fibers to illuminate the selected microscopic tissue site, wherein a surface area of the microscopic tissue site is less than or equal to a contact surface of the distal end of the fiber optic probe; sequentially collecting an emitted light beam emanating from the illuminated microscopic tissue site through the collection fiber for each transmitted wavelength; transmitting each emitted light beam emanating from the illuminated microscopic tissue site to a spectrometer; conducting a spectral analysis of each emitted light beam emanating from the illuminated microscopic tissue site using the spectrometer to generate a set of spectral data; and calculating as probability that the selected microscopic tissue site is cancerous by comparing the spectral analysis of the selected microscopic tissue site to a spectral analysis of a known non-cancerous tissue site.
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21. A method of detecting diseased cervical tissue comprising the steps of:
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generating a beam of light from an illumination source having a lamp, a plurality of selectably engageable filters and a light directing device for selectably directing the beam of light in a first direction or a second direction; directing the entire beam of light in the first beam direction; illuminating a macroscopic tissue site of a cervix with a first set of selected wavelengths by sequentially filtering the beam of light with a set of the selectably engageable filters to generate the first set of selected wavelengths from the beam of light directed in the first beam direction; concurrently visualizing and photographing the illuminated macroscopic tissue site by splitting a first set of emitted light beams from the macroscopic tissue site illuminated with the first set of selected wavelengths; selecting a microscopic tissue site within the illuminated macroscopic tissue site for further investigation; watching a placement of a transverse distal end of a fiber optic probe in contact with the selected microscopic tissue site while the macroscopic tissue site is still illuminated by the beam of light in the first beam direction; activating a light directing device to direct the entire beam of light in a second beam direction; generating a second set of selected wavelengths from the beam of light by sequentially engaging a set of the selectably engageable filters to filter the beam of light from the illumination source, wherein the second set of selected wavelength has at least one wavelength that is contained within the first set of selected wavelengths; transmitting the second set of wavelengths in the second beam direction to the fiber optic probe having a plurality of excitation optic fibers and a collection optic fiber; sequentially transmitting the second set of wavelengths through the excitation fibers to illuminate the selected microscopic tissue site, wherein the microscopic tissue site is limited by a contact surface of the distal end of the fiber optic probe; sequentially collecting a second set of emitted light beams emanating from the illuminated microscopic tissue site through the collection fiber for each transmitted wavelength; transmitting each emitted light beam of the second set to a spectrometer; conducting a spectral analysis of each emitted light beam of the second set using the spectrometer to generate a set of spectral data; recording the set of spectral data in a processor; and calculating a probability that the selected microscopic tissue site is cancerous using programmed algorithms to analyze the set of spectral data.
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Specification