Dynamic raman signal acquisition system, method and apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10809199-B2
Application number	US-201816056692-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 7, 2018
Priority date	Aug 7, 2018
Publication date	Oct 20, 2020
Grant date	Oct 20, 2020

Abstract

A dynamic Raman signal acquisition apparatus, system, and method involving: an excitation light source operable at a designated irradiation power and for a designated acquisition time for each Raman data acquisition; a Raman probe operatively associated with said excitation light source to irradiate the biological tissue at said designated irradiation power and for said designated acquisition time, and capture an optical Raman response therefrom; a spectrometer operable to spectrally analyze said optical Raman response; and a controller in operative communication with said excitation light source and said spectrometer to automatically adjust at least one signal acquisition parameter.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A dynamic Raman system for analyzing biological tissue and providing real-time optimization of a plurality of Raman system parameters in use, the system comprising:
an excitation light source operable at a designated irradiation power and for a designated acquisition time for each Raman data acquisition;
a Raman probe operatively associated with said excitation light source to irradiate the biological tissue at said designated irradiation power and for said designated acquisition time, and capture an optical Raman response therefrom;
a spectrometer operable to spectrally analyze said optical Raman response; and
a controller in operative communication with said excitation light source and said spectrometer to automatically adjust at least one signal acquisition parameter by:
if the Raman probe is detected as being in stable optical contact with a sample of the biological tissue, autonomously commencing acquiring a Raman response signal for said designated irradiation power being set to a predetermined initial irradiation power and at said designated acquisition time;
processing an amplitude of said Raman response signal against a designated threshold; and
upon said Raman response signal being greater than said designated threshold, said controller is further operable to operatively lower said designated irradiation power and repeat for a subsequent said Raman response signal,
wherein said Raman response signal comprises a maximum signal level for a series of initial Raman response signals,
wherein the controller is configured to automatically adjust the at least one signal acquisition parameter as a function of a plurality of measured optical responses corresponding to one of: a plurality of successive acquisitions and a plurality of iterative acquisitions,
wherein the controller is configured to terminate irradiation by the excitation light source via a time delay between one of successive acquisitions and iterative acquisitions, whereby photobleaching is avoided,
wherein a plurality of dynamic adjustments to the plurality of Raman system parameters increases a number of useful acquisitions without invoking at least one of post-acquisition processing and signal repair, the plurality of dynamic adjustments at least minimizing a need for a plurality of manual adjustments to the plurality of Raman system parameters, and the plurality of Raman system parameters comprising: an irradiation power, an acquisition time, and a Raman response signal level, and
wherein, once said signal acquisition parameter has been adjusted, said controller is further operable to operatively serially acquire a set of background-corrected Raman response signals until a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) thereof is greater than a designated SNR threshold.

2. The Raman system of claim 1 , wherein said predetermined initial irradiation power is a predetermined maximum irradiation power.

3. The Raman system of claim 1 , wherein, upon said Raman response signal being below said designated threshold, said controller is further operable to dynamically increase said designated acquisition time to increase subsequent Raman response signals toward said threshold.

4. The Raman system of claim 1 , wherein said controller is further operable to:
acquire a first set of background signals to process said background-corrected Raman response signals, the first set of background signals comprising measured raw signal contributions from dark current and ambient light; and
upon said SNR being greater than said designated SNR threshold, acquire a complementary set of background signals such that a total number of acquired background signals is equal to a total number of said background-corrected Raman signals to be used in post-processing said background-corrected Raman signals.

5. The Raman system of claim 1 , wherein said controller is further operable to spectrally identify and automatically remove narrow band outliners from said Raman response signals.

6. The Raman system of claim 1 , wherein said controller is further operable to spectrally identify an adverse safety feature from said Raman response signals and immediately suspend further acquisition.

7. The Raman system of claim 1 , wherein said Raman probe comprises a handheld probe.

8. The Raman system of claim 1 , wherein said excitation light source is directly controlled by said controller to adjust said designated irradiation power.

9. The Raman system of claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a power controller operatively disposed between said excitation light source and said Raman probe, and in operative communication with said controller to adjust said designated irradiation power.

10. A computerised method of dynamically acquiring Raman signals for analyzing biological tissue and providing real-time optimization of a plurality of Raman system parameters in use, the method comprising:
irradiating the tissue at a designated irradiation power, initially set to a predetermined initial irradiation power, for a designated acquisition time;
if the Raman probe is detected as being in stable optical contact with a sample of the biological tissue, autonomously commencing acquiring a Raman response signal from said irradiating at said designated irradiation power and at said designated acquisition time;
processing an amplitude of said Raman response signal against a designated threshold; and
upon said Raman response signal being greater than said designated threshold, dynamically decreasing said designated irradiation power; and
repeating for a subsequent said Raman response signal, wherein said Raman response signal comprises a maximum signal level for a series of initial Raman response signals; and
once said signal acquisition parameter has been adjusted, operatively serially acquiring a set of background-corrected Raman response signals until a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) thereof is greater than a designated SNR threshold,
wherein processing the amplitude of said Raman response signal comprises processing a maximum signal level for a series of initial Raman response signals,
wherein processing the amplitude of said Raman response signal comprises automatically adjusting the at least one signal acquisition parameter as a function of a plurality of measured optical responses corresponding to one of: a plurality of successive acquisitions and a plurality of iterative acquisitions,
wherein irradiating comprises terminating irradiation via a time delay between one of successive acquisitions and iterative acquisitions, thereby avoiding photobleaching, and
wherein automatically adjusting the at least one signal acquisition parameter comprises automatically adjusting the plurality of Raman system parameters, thereby providing a plurality of dynamic adjustments and increasing a number of useful acquisitions without invoking at least one of post-acquisition processing and signal repair, the plurality of dynamic adjustments at least minimizing a need for a plurality of manual adjustments to the plurality of Raman system parameters, and the plurality of Raman system parameters comprising: an irradiation power, an acquisition time, and a Raman response signal level.

11. The computerized method of claim 10 , wherein said predetermined initial irradiation power is a predetermined maximum irradiation power.

12. The computerized method of claim 10 , wherein, upon said Raman response signal being below said designated threshold, further comprising dynamically increasing said designated acquisition time to increase subsequent Raman response signals toward said threshold.

13. The computerized method of claim 10 , wherein th

Assignees

• Synaptive Medical Barbados Inc

Inventors

• Franjic Kresmir
• Bismilla Yusuf
• Mak Siu Way Jacky

Classifications

• G01J2003/2869

  Background correcting · CPC title

• G01J3/44 Primary

  Raman spectrometry; Scattering spectrometry {; Fluorescence spectrometry} · CPC title

• G01N2201/12746

  Calibration values determination · CPC title

• G01N2201/08

  Optical fibres; light guides · CPC title

• G01N21/65 Primary

  Raman scattering · CPC title