Photoacoustic assay and imaging system
First Claim
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7. Apparatus for determining at least one characteristic of a region of interest in a body comprising:
- a light source that illuminates the region with a plurality of light pulses of radiation having wavelengths at which the radiation is absorbed by first and second components that may be present in the region to stimulate photoacoustic waves in the region;
at least one ultrasound transducer that generates signals responsive to the photoacoustic waves; and
a controller that receives the signals and processes them to correlate spatial distribution of the concentration of the first component with that of the second component to determine the characteristic.
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Abstract
A method for assaying a component of a localized region of interest in a body comprising: illuminating the region with at least one pulse of radiation having a wavelength at which the radiation is absorbed by the component to generate a change in an acoustic property of the region; transmitting ultrasound so that it is incident on the region; measuring at least one effect of the change on the incident ultrasound; using the measured at least one effect to determine an absorption coefficient for the radiation in the region; and using the determined absorption coefficient to determine concentration of the component in the region.
77 Citations
86 Claims
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7. Apparatus for determining at least one characteristic of a region of interest in a body comprising:
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a light source that illuminates the region with a plurality of light pulses of radiation having wavelengths at which the radiation is absorbed by first and second components that may be present in the region to stimulate photoacoustic waves in the region;
at least one ultrasound transducer that generates signals responsive to the photoacoustic waves; and
a controller that receives the signals and processes them to correlate spatial distribution of the concentration of the first component with that of the second component to determine the characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for assaying a component of a localized region of interest in a body comprising:
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a) illuminating the region with at least one pulse of radiation having a wavelength at which the radiation is absorbed by the component to generate a change in an acoustic property of the region;
b) transmitting ultrasound so that it is incident on the region;
c) measuring at least one effect of the change on the incident ultrasound; and
d) using the measured at least one effect to determine concentration of the component in the region. - View Dependent Claims (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 50, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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38. A method for assaying a component of a region of interest in a body comprising:
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a) determining a location of the region;
b) illuminating the region and a larger region comprising the region with at least one pulse of light having a wavelength at which light is absorbed by the component;
c) sensing photoacoustic waves generated in the larger region responsive to the light pulse and determining locations of their origins; and
d) using sensed photoacoustic waves having an origin in the region of interest to determine concentration of the component in the region. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78)
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50-1. A method according to claim 59 and further comprising using a same at least one ultrasound transmitter or ultrasound sensor to acquire both the image provided from assaying the component and the ultrasound image.
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79. Apparatus for assaying a component of a blood bolus in a blood vessel of a body comprising:
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a light source that illuminates a region of the body comprising the blood bolus with light at a first wavelength that is relatively strongly absorbed by blood to generate first photoacoustic waves at locations in the body region occupied by blood;
a light source that illuminates the body region with light at a second wavelength that is absorbed by the component to generate second photoacoustic waves at locations at which the component is located;
at least one ultrasound transducer that generates first and second signals responsive to the first and second photoacoustic waves respectively; and
a controller that;
a) receives the first signals and uses them to determine a spatial distribution of blood in the body region and therefrom a location of the blood bolus;
b) receives the second signals and uses them to determine locations of the origins of the second photoacoustic waves; and
c) uses second signals corresponding to second photoacoustic waves having an origin in the bolus to determine concentration of the component in the bolus. - View Dependent Claims (80)
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81. Apparatus for assaying a component of a region of interest in a body comprising:
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a source of radiation controllable to provide pulses of radiation having a wavelength at which the radiation is absorbed by the component and generates a change in an acoustic property of the region;
at least one ultrasound transducer controllable to transmit ultrasound;
at least one transducer for sensing ultrasound that generates signals responsive to ultrasound energy incident thereon; and
a controller that;
a) controls the radiation source to illuminate the region with at least one pulse of the radiation that generates the change in region;
b) controls at least one transmitting transducer to transmit ultrasound that is incident on the region and thereafter incident on a sensing transducer that generates signals responsive thereto;
c) receives the signals and uses them to measure at least one effect of the change on the ultrasound; and
d) uses the measured effect to determine concentration of the component in the region. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84)
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85. A method for assaying glucose in a region of interest in a body comprising:
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a) determining a location of the region;
b) illuminating the region and a larger region comprising the region with at least one pulse of light having a wavelength at which light is absorbed by the component;
c) sensing photoacoustic waves generated in the larger region responsive to the light pulse and determining locations of their origins; and
d) using sensed photoacoustic waves having an origin in the region of interest to determine concentration of glucose in the region of interest.
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86. Apparatus for assaying glucose in a blood bolus in a blood vessel of a body comprising:
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a light source that illuminates a region of the body comprising the blood bolus with light at a first wavelength that is relatively strongly absorbed by blood to generate first photoacoustic waves at locations in the body region occupied by blood;
a light source that illuminates the body region with light at a second wavelength that is absorbed by the component to generate second photoacoustic waves at locations at which the component is located;
at least one ultrasound transducer that generates first and second signals responsive to the first and second photoacoustic waves respectively; and
a controller that;
a) receives the first signals and uses them determine a spatial distribution of blood in the body region and therefrom a location of the blood bolus;
b) receives the second signals and uses them to determine locations of the origins of the second photoacoustic waves; and
c) uses second signals corresponding to second photoacoustic waves having an origin in the bolus to determine concentration of glucose in the bolus.
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Specification