MULTIPLEXED PATHLENGTH RESOLVED NONINVASIVE ANALYZER APPARATUS WITH STACKED FILTERS AND METHOD OF USE THEREOF

• US 20150011849A1
• Filed: 09/22/2014
• Published: 01/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zyomed Holdings, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Zyomed Corp.
• Inventors: Ruchti, Timothy, Abul-Haj, Alan, Hazen, Kevin
• Granted Patent: US 9,351,672 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/316
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/04 Arrangements of multiple sensors of the same type
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/046 in a matrix array
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1455 using optical sensors, e.g. spectral photometrical oximeters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6801 specially adapted to be attached to or worn on the body surface

Abstract

A noninvasive analyzer apparatus and method of use thereof is described using a plurality of sample illumination zones optically coupled to at least two optically stacked two-dimensional optical filter arrays. Sectioned pixels and/or zones of a detector array are optionally filtered for different light throughput and/or are passed through various pathlengths using the stacked two-dimensional optical filter arrays. Resulting pathlength resolved/wavelength controlled groups of spectra are subsequently analyzed to determine an analyte property.

Claims

1. An apparatus for noninvasive analyte property estimation of a constituent of a human subject, comprising:

a near-infrared analyzer, comprising;

a near-infrared source;

a detector array;

a photon transport system configured to transport photons along an optical train from said near-infrared source to said detector array via an analyzer-subject interface;

a first two-dimensional filter array comprising a first set of optical filters, said first set of optical filters comprising at least two optical filters; and

a second two-dimensional filter array comprising a second set of optical filters,

said optical train sequentially passing through said first two-dimensional filter array and said second two-dimensional filter array.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, said first set of optical filters further comprising:

a first optical filter optically linked to a first set of at least three detector elements of said detector array; and

a second optical filter optically linked to a second set of at least three detector elements of said detector array.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, said first set of optical filters and said second set of optical filters further comprising:

a first optical connection to a common detector element of said detector array.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, a first detector element of said set of at least three detector elements further comprising a first surface area, said second detector element of said set of at least three detector elements further comprising a second surface area, said second surface area at least thirty percent larger than said first surface area.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, said second detector element, comprising said second surface area at least thirty percent larger than said first surface area, positioned further from a center of said analyzer-subject interface than said first detector element.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, said first set of optical filters further comprising:

a first optical filter comprising a first incident optical surface area at least twenty-five percent larger than a second incident optical surface area of a second optical filter.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, said first set of optical filters further comprising at least one longpass filter.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, said second set of optical filters further comprising at least one shortpass filter.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, said first set of optical filters further comprising:

a square filter; and

a non-square, rectangular filter.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

a two-dimensional focusing optic array in said optical train.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, said two-dimensional focusing optic array further comprising:

a first optic comprising a mean optical path tilted away from a photon illumination zone of said analyzer-subject interface.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, said two-dimensional focusing optic array further comprising:

a second optic comprising a mean optical path tilted toward a vector passing perpendicular to the subject through said analyzer-subject interface.

13. The apparatus of claim 3, said first set of optical filters further comprising:

a first filter comprising a first fifty percent transmission cut-on wavelength;

a second filter comprising a second fifty percent transmission cut-on wavelength at least one hundred nanometers less than said first fifty percent transmission cut-on wavelength; and

a third filter comprising a third fifty percent transmission cut-on wavelength at least one hundred nanometers less than said second fifty percent transmission cut-on wavelength.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, said first set of optical filters further comprising:

a first filter comprising a first fifty percent transmission cut-on wavelength;

a second filter comprising a second fifty percent transmission cut-on wavelength at least one hundred nanometers less than said first fifty percent transmission cut-on wavelength;

a third filter comprising a third fifty percent transmission cut-on wavelength at least one hundred nanometers less than said second fifty percent transmission cut-on wavelength,

said photon transport system configured to deliver photons to an incident photon tissue site of the subject,

said first filter positioned closer to the incident photon tissue site than said second filter, and

said second filter positioned closer to the incident photon tissue site than said third filter.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, said second filter further comprising:

an optical interface linked to at least two rows of detector elements of said detector array.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a first filter of said first two-dimensional filter array, said first filter comprising an edge; and

a second filter of said second two-dimensional filter array, said second filter comprising a non-edge, surface filter area,

wherein said edge of said first filter optically overlaps said non-edge, surface filter area of said second filter.

17. A method for noninvasive analyte property estimation of a constituent of a human subject, comprising the steps of:

providing a near-infrared analyzer, comprising;

a near-infrared source;

a detector array;

a first two-dimensional filter array comprising a first set of optical filters, said first set of optical filters comprising at least two optical filters;

a second two-dimensional filter array comprising a second set of optical filters; and

a photon transport system; and

transporting photons along an along an optical train from said near-infrared source to said detector array via an analyzer-subject interface using said photon transport system, said optical train sequentially passing through said first two-dimensional filter array and said second two-dimensional filter array.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

collecting light at a first radial distance from a center of said analyzer-subject interface using a first combination of filter elements from said first two-dimensional filter array and said second two-dimensional filter array; and

collecting light at a second radial distance from said center of said analyzer-subject interface using a second combination of filter elements from said first two-dimensional filter array and said second two-dimensional filter array,

wherein said first combination of filter elements transmit a first mean wavelength at least one hundred nanometers longer than a second mean wavelength of said second combination of filter elements.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of:

positioning said second combination of filter elements closer to said center of said analyzer-subject interface compared to a position of said first combination of filter elements.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of:

using said detector array to detect light passing through at least twenty distinct combinations of filters of said first two-dimensional filter array and said second two-dimensional filter array.