Apparatus and methods for endometrial tissue identification

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10663403-B2
Application number	US-201815981101-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2018
Priority date	May 16, 2017
Publication date	May 26, 2020
Grant date	May 26, 2020

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure include apparatus and methods to identify endometrial tissue.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of detecting endometrial tissue, the method comprising:
illuminating tissue with excitation light;
detecting an endogenous fluorescence emission from a portion of the tissue in response to illuminating the tissue with the excitation light;
identifying the portion of the tissue producing the endogenous fluorescence emission as endometrial tissue; and
identifying a void created by an endometrial gland.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the excitation light is emitted from a light emitting diode (LED).

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the excitation light has a wavelength of 450 nm.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the LED is configured to emit excitation light with a wavelength of 450 nm.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the endogenous fluorescence emission is detected by a camera.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the endogenous fluorescence emission passes through a filter before being detected by the camera.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the filter is a gradient-index (GRIN) lens.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the GRIN lens is configured to filter light below 550 nm.

9. The method of claim 5 wherein the camera comprises a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensor.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the excitation light has a wavelength between 370 and 510 nanometers (nm).

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the method incorporates single photon imaging of the tissue.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the excitation light has a wavelength between 740 and 1,020 nanometers (nm).

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the method incorporates two-photon imaging of the tissue.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the endogenous fluorescence emission has a wavelength between 550 and 750 nanometers (nm).

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the endogenous fluorescence emission is emitted from hemosiderin.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the excitation light is emitted from a laser.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the excitation light is emitted from a light source configured for use in a multi-photon imaging apparatus.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the excitation light is emitted from a light source configured for use in a two-photon imaging apparatus.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the void is identified by optical coherence tomography.

20. An apparatus comprising:
an excitation light source configured to emit excitation light having a wavelength between 370 and 510 nanometers (nm) or between 740 and 1,020 nm, wherein the excitation light source is configured to illuminate a portion of tissue; and
an imaging device configured to detect endogenous fluorescence emission light having a wavelength between a wavelength between 550 and 750 nanometers (nm), wherein the excitation light source and the imaging device are contained within a photonic crystal fiber.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the excitation light source is a light emitting diode (LED).

22. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the imaging device is a camera.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 further comprising a filter configured to filter the endogenous fluorescence emission before the endogenous fluorescence emission is detected by the camera.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the filter is a gradient-index (GRIN) lens.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the GRIN lens is configured to filter light below 550 nm.

26. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the camera comprises a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensor.

27. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising a computer processor configured to analyze the endogenous fluorescence emission light and classify the endogenous fluorescence emission light as an indicator of endometrial tissue.

28. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising an optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging device.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein the OCT imaging device is configured to detect a void in the portion of tissue.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 further comprising a computer processor configured to analyze the void in the tissue and classify the void as an indicator of an endometrial gland.

31. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the excitation light source is a laser.

32. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the excitation light source is a component in a multi-photon imaging apparatus.

33. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the excitation light source is a component in a two-photon imaging apparatus.

34. An apparatus comprising:
an excitation light source configured to emit excitation light having a wavelength between 370 and 510 nanometers (nm) or between 740 and 1,020 nm, wherein the excitation light source is configured to illuminate a portion of tissue; and
an imaging device configured to detect endogenous fluorescence emission light having a wavelength between a wavelength between 550 and 750 nanometers (nm), wherein the OCT imaging device is configured to detect a void in the portion of tissue.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising a computer processor configured to analyze the void in the tissue and classify the void as an indicator of an endometrial gland.

Assignees

• Res Found Dev

Inventors

• Feldman Marc D
• Milner Thomas E
• Cabe Andrew G
• Estrada Arnold D

Classifications

• A61B5/0071 Primary

  by measuring fluorescence emission · CPC title

• G01N21/6458

  Fluorescence microscopy (fluorescence microscopes per se G02B21/0076 and G02B21/16) · CPC title

• G01N21/6486 Primary

  Measuring fluorescence of biological material, e.g. DNA, RNA, cells (G01N21/6428 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01N2021/6478

  Special lenses · CPC title

• A61B5/0084

  for introduction into the body, e.g. by catheters (A61B5/1459 takes precedence) · CPC title