Hand-held optical probe based imaging system with 3D tracking facilities

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9709733-B2
Application number	US-44250507-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2007
Priority date	Sep 28, 2006
Publication date	Jul 18, 2017
Grant date	Jul 18, 2017

Abstract

The claimed method and system uses a hand-held based optical process to image large tissue volumes using a flexible probe head, increased data acquisition using multi-source illumination and multi-detector sensing, and tomographic reconstruction of sub-surface structures of a target object using ultrasonic tracking facilities.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of optically imaging a three-dimensional target object comprising:
generating a beam of light using a laser;
channeling the light beam into first ends of a plurality of optical source fibers;
manipulating the light beam to be simultaneously emitted through each of the plurality of optical source fibers;
disposing second ends of the optical source fibers on a plate;
conforming the plate along a surface of the target object;
illuminating the target object using the optical source fibers to perform simultaneous or sequential, multi-point illumination, from a plurality of angles;
disposing first ends of a plurality of optical detector fibers on the plate around the second ends of the optical source fibers;
receiving light from the target object into the plurality of optical detector fibers;
connecting second ends of the optical detector fibers to a detector; and
calculating a set of light characteristics based on signals received from the detector.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detector comprises a photo-detector array and a charge-coupled device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein manipulating the light beam comprises collimating the light beam, diffusing the collimated light beam, and focusing the collimated and diffused light beam on a bundle of first ends of the plurality of optical source fibers.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating a value from a set of values including a frequency domain photon migration value, a continuous wave parameter value, or a time domain parameter value from the electrical signals based on the signals received from the detector.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising disposing the light sources and detectors on a second plate, wherein the second plate is pivotable about the first plate.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising scanning the target object to obtain a three-dimensional topographic map of the target object, tracing the plate on the target object, mapping the set of calculated light characteristics on the topographic map to generate a co-registered map of sensor and location data relevant for tomographic reconstruction.

7. A system including a hand-held probe and operable to provide optical imaging data of a three-dimensional target object, the system comprising:
a laser that generates light;
a first device for dividing the light into a plurality of beams;
a plurality of optical source fibers that channel the plurality of beams on to the target object;
a plurality of optical detector fibers that receive light from the target object;
a plate for terminating each of the plurality of optical source fibers and each of the plurality of optical detector fibers on a plane, the terminated source and detector fibers arranged to illuminate the target object from a plurality of angles and to receive light from the target object from a plurality of angles;
a charge-coupled device sensor that receives the light from the plurality of optical detector fibers and generates corresponding electrical signals;
a processor for computing a set of light characteristics based on the electrical signals.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the first device comprises a bundle of first ends of each of the plurality of optical source fibers.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a collimator that receives the light from the laser and outputs a collimated light beam, a diffuser coupled between the collimator and the first device for evenly diffusing the light and a focuser for receiving the collimated and diffused light and channeling the collimated and diffused light over an area encompassing the bundle of first ends of the plurality of optical source fibers.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor calculates a value from a set of values including a frequency domain photon migration value, a continuous wave parameter value, or a time domain parameter value based on the electrical signals.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plate is divided into a plurality of plate sections, wherein each plate section is pivotable about an edge with at least one other plate section.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plate comprises a flexible material adapted to conform to a surface of the three-dimensional object.

13. A hand-held optical imaging device for providing optical imaging data of a three-dimensional (3D) tissue comprising:
a support frame for positioning a plurality of plates on a surface of the tissue;
a plurality of optical source fibers having first ends arranged on the plurality of plates, such that the optical source fibers illuminate the tissue from a plurality of angles;
a plurality of optical detector fibers having first ends arranged on the plurality of plates around the first ends of the optical source fibers, such that the optical detector fibers receive light from a plurality of angles;
a light source for generating light;
a dividing device that receives the light from the light source and channels the light into second ends of the plurality of optical source fibers;
a detector coupled to second ends of the optical detector fibers; and
a processing device for calculating a set of light characteristics from the tissue based on signals from the detector.

14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the light source, the dividing device, and the plurality of optical source fibers are adapted to simultaneously emit light at each of the first ends of the optical source fibers at a substantially single level of intensity.

15. The device of claim 13 , wherein the processor calculates a value from a set of values including a frequency domain photon migration value, a continuous wave parameter value, or a time domain parameter value based on the electrical signals.

16. The device of claim 13 , wherein the plate comprises a plurality of plate sections and wherein the support frame couples a first plate section, a second plate section, and a third plate section, and further wherein the first and the third plate section are adapted to pivot about a first and a second edge, respectively, of the second plate section.

17. The device of claim 13 , wherein the plate comprises a flexible material and wherein the support frame is adapted to conform the plate over a region of the tissue.

18. A method of providing sensor data of a three-dimensional (3D) tissue object comprising:
generating a three-dimensional topographic map of the tissue object using a surface rendering device;
tracing a probe on the surface of the tissue object to collect sensor data on a characteristic of the tissue object at a plurality of positions on the target object;
tracking the motion of the probe with respect to a reference point of the tissue object as the probe is traced on a surface of the tissue object;
mapping the sensor data of the tissue object on the three-dimensional topographic map with respect to the reference point, thereby generating location data for the sensor data; and
processing the sensor data with location data to produce a co-registered map of sensor and location data relevant for reconstruction of a tomogram of the tissue object.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the probe is an optical sub-surface imaging probe that provides sensor data for calculating a value from a set of values including a frequency domain photon migration value, a continuous wave parameter value, or a time domain parameter value based on the electrical signals.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein tracking the motion o

Assignees

• Godavarty Anuradha
• Regalado Steven A
• Jayachandran Bhavani
• Zhu Banghe
• Univ Florida Int

Inventors

• Godavarty Anuradha
• Regalado Steven A
• Jayachandran Bhavani
• Zhu Banghe

Classifications

• G02B6/08

  with fibre bundle in form of plate · CPC title

• G01N2201/0833

  Fibre array at detector, resolving · CPC title

• G01N2201/0826

  Fibre array at source, distributing · CPC title

• G01N2201/0221

  Portable; cableless; compact; hand-held · CPC title

• G01N2021/4742

  comprising optical fibres · CPC title