Augmented reality spectroscopy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11754844-B2
Application number	US-202217896516-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 26, 2022
Priority date	Sep 22, 2016
Publication date	Sep 12, 2023
Grant date	Sep 12, 2023

Abstract

In some embodiments, a system comprises a head-mounted frame removably coupleable to the user's head; one or more light sources coupled to the head-mounted frame and configured to emit light with at least two different wavelengths toward a target object in an irradiation field of view of the light sources; one or more electromagnetic radiation detectors coupled to the head-mounted member and configured to receive light reflected after encountering the target object; and a controller operatively coupled to the one or more light sources and detectors and configured to determine and display an output indicating the identity or property of the target object as determined by the light properties measured by the detectors in relation to the light properties emitted by the light sources.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A spectroscopy method comprising, under control of one or more processors of a wearable spectroscopy system:
causing one or more light sources of the wearable spectroscopy system to emit pulses of light with at least two different wavelengths to irradiate a target object;
receiving, from at least one electromagnetic radiation detector of the wearable spectroscopy system, one or more signals indicating detected levels of light absorption related to the emitted pulses of light and reflected light from the target object irradiated by the emitted pulses of light;
determining the output based on comparing the detected levels of light absorption with stored absorption data comprising light absorption properties of a plurality of materials and matching the detected levels of light absorption to one or more of the plurality of materials of the stored absorption data; and
causing the wearable spectroscopy system to display, to a user wearing the wearable spectroscopy system via a head-mountable display of the wearable spectroscopy system, an output based on the detected levels of light absorption.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the absorption data is stored in a local memory connected to the wearable spectroscopy system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the absorption data is stored in a memory of a remote computing device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one outward-facing light source comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two different wavelengths comprise a first wavelength of about 660 nanometers, and a second wavelength of about 940 nanometers.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two wavelengths of light are emitted sequentially.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two wavelengths of light are emitted simultaneously.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two wavelengths of light are emitted in a cyclic pattern of a first wavelength on, then a second wavelength on, then both first and second wavelengths off, such that the at least one electromagnetic radiation detector detects the first and second wavelengths at different times.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating a ratio of first wavelength light measurement to second wavelength light measurement and converting the ratio to a tissue property.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the output comprises the tissue property.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the tissue property comprises at least one property selected from the group consisting of: an estimated blood saturation level, a presence of abnormal cells, and a presence of cancerous cells.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electromagnetic radiation detector comprises a device selected from the group consisting of a photodiode and a photodetector.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electromagnetic radiation detector comprises a digital image sensor.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the digital image sensor comprises a plurality of pixels, and wherein the controller is configured to automatically detect a subset of pixels which are receiving the light reflected after encountering a predetermined tissue property and to produce an output that displays the location of the subset of pixels indicating the predetermined tissue property.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a pose of a head of the user via an inertial measurement unit positional system of the wearable spectroscopy system.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more outward-facing light sources emit the light in a direction corresponding to the pose of the user's head.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the causing the wearable spectroscopy system to display the output based on the detected levels of light absorption includes:
rendering the output representative of the target object on an optical element of head-mountable display of the wearable spectroscopy system.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the rendering the output of the target object includes rendering a display label that is indicative of an absorption level of the target object.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the causing the one or more light sources of the wearable spectroscopy system to emit the pulses of light with the at least two different wavelengths to irradiate the target object:
determining the target object via application of at least one of digital image processing or intensity thresholding analysis on an image captured by a digital image sensor.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the determining the target object includes receiving the image captured by a camera of the wearable spectroscopy system and identifying a series of pixels within the camera field of view having an irregular or non-linear pattern as representing the target object.

Assignees

• Magic Leap Inc

Inventors

• Samec Nicole Elizabeth
• Robaina Nastasja U
• Kaehler Adrian
• Baerenrodt Mark
• Baerenrodt Eric
• Harrises Christopher M
• Powers Tammy Sherri

Classifications

• A61B5/0075 Primary

  by spectroscopy, i.e. measuring spectra, e.g. Raman spectroscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy (A61B5/0071 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G02B27/0172 Primary

  characterised by optical features · CPC title

• G01J3/0248

  using a sighting port, e.g. camera or human eye · CPC title

• A61B5/14551

  for measuring blood gases · CPC title

• G01J3/0256

  Compact construction · CPC title