Fuji Photo Film Company, Limited

Fujifilm Corporation

Katsumi Hayashi

Eiichi Okutsu

Morio Yagihara

Nobufumi Mori

Nobuhiko Ogura

Yoo Iijima

Yoji Okazaki

Yoshihiro Takagi

Kazuo Hakamata

Tomonari Sendai

Toshiro Hayakawa

Hisashi Okada

Masayuki Naya

Tetsuro Kojima

Yoshihiro Fujita

Nobuaki Inoue

Kiyoshi Morimoto

Tadao Shishido

Toshihide Ezoe

Toshihito Kimura

Minoru Yamada

Isamu Itoh

Shinji Ueda

Kenji Matsumoto

Kazuhiro Tsujita

Senzo Sasaoka

Isao Shimamura

Mitsunori Hirano

Haruhiko Iwano

Yoshiyuki Kunuki

Takeo Sakai

Masashi Hakamata

Keiji Mori

Shigenori Moriuchi

Haruo Shibaoka

Masayoshi Yamamoto

Masaaki Torigoe

Kunioki Ohmura

Toshihiko Maekawa

Kota Fukui

Motoko Kawasaki

An analysis chip comprises a thin film layer, which is formed on a dielectric material block and has two different regions. A flow path unit comprising a supply path for supplying a sample onto the thin film layer and a discharging path for discharging the sample is releasably loaded into the analysis chip. A light beam is irradiated to a first interface between one region of the thin film layer and the dielectric material block, and a second interface between the other region of the thin film layer and the dielectric material block, in a parallel manner. Refractive index information with regard to a substance to be analyzed, which is located on the thin film layer, is acquired from intensities of the light beam totally reflected from the first interface and the light beam totally reflected from the second interface.

Analysis method and apparatus and analysis unit

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for simultaneously carrying out the detection or measurement of a substance interacting with a physiologically active substance immobilized on a biosensor and the analysis of the effects of the above substance on the biological activity of the physiologically active substance. The present invention provides a method using a biosensor formed by immobilizing a physiologically active substance on a substrate, wherein the detection and measurement of a substance interacting with said physiologically active substance and the measurement of the biological activity of said physiologically active substance are carried out on said single biosensor.

Measurement method using biosensor

Disclosed herein is a sensor utilizing attenuated total reflection. The sensor is constructed of a measuring chip, an optical system, and a measuring section. The measuring chip is equipped with a dielectric block, a thin film layer formed on the dielectric block, and a liquid-sample holding portion for holding a liquid sample. The optical system is used to make a light beam enter the dielectric block at various angles of incidence so that a total internal reflection condition is satisfied at an interface between the dielectric block and the thin film layer. The measuring section measures the state of attenuated total reflection, based on the intensity of the light beam totally reflected at the interface. The liquid-sample holding portion has an opening at its top surface. The sensor further has a lid supply mechanism for placing a lid on the opening to prevent evaporation of the liquid sample.

Measuring sensor utilizing attenuated total reflection and measuring chip assembly

A fluorescence observing apparatus including a light source for emitting excitation light, an excitation light irradiation section for irradiating the excitation light to a sample, and a fluorescence measurement section for measuring fluorescence emitted from the sample by the irradiation of the excitation light. In the fluorescence observing apparatus, a GaN semiconductor laser is employed as the light source.

Fluorescence observing apparatus

A method and system by which the sentinel lymph node, which is the first lymph node to which cancer is transferred when cancer is transferred to lymph nodes, is detected easily and with a high degree of accuracy. A fluorescent colorant is injected near a tumor, and after a predetermined period of time an abdominal operation is performed and stimulating light is projected onto the area being examined. Because the fluorescent colorant has been accumulated on the sentinel lymph node, it emits fluorescent light, which is then magnified and converted to a visual image. The examiner can view the normal image and the visible image at the same time. Because the stimulating light is in the near-infrared wavelength band, which is difficult for the fatty and other tissue that cover the sentinel lymph node to absorb, the sentinel lymph node is detected from the surface of the tissue.

Sentinel lymph node detection method and system therefor

Disclosed herein is a measuring apparatus utilizing attenuated total reflection. The measuring apparatus is equipped with a dielectric block, a thin film layer formed on one surface of the dielectric block, an optical system for making a light beam enter the dielectric block so that a condition for total internal reflection is satisfied at an interface between the dielectric block and the thin film layer, and a two-piece photodiode for detecting the light beam totally reflected at the interface. When attenuated total reflection is detected a plurality of times for a single sample, the two-piece photodiode is disposed at a predetermined position relative to a dark line when a first measurement is made. The two-piece photodiode is also disposed at the same position as the predetermined position stored in a storage unit when a second measurement and measurements thereafter are made.

Measuring apparatus utilizing attenuated total reflection

A method and an apparatus for detecting fluorescence to distinguish between a sub mucosa and a mucosa immediately and easily. The sub mucosa of organic tissue is distinguished from and the mucosa thereof based on autofluorescence emitted from the organic tissue in response to stimulating light projected thereon. The distinction between the sub mucosa and the mucosa is made based on normalized intensity of the autofluorescence emitted from the organic tissue utilizing the fact that the spectrum of autofluorescence emitted from the sub mucosa is different from the spectrum of autofluorescence emitted from the mucosa.

Method and apparatus for detecting fluorescence used for determining conditions of tissue

Excitation light is irradiated to a region of interest in a living body, the excitation light causing the region of interest to produce intrinsic fluorescence. An image displaying system acquires image information in accordance with the intrinsic fluorescence and displays the acquired image information. The image displaying system comprises a light intensity detecting device for an entire measurement wavelength region of the intrinsic fluorescence, a light intensity detecting device for a partial measurement wavelength region of the intrinsic fluorescence, and a display device. The display device displays a display color in accordance with a ratio between the light intensity, which has been detected by the light intensity detecting device for the entire measurement wavelength region, and the light intensity, which has been detected by the light intensity detecting device for the partial measurement wavelength region. The display color is displayed by the utilization of an additive color mixture process.

Apparatus for displaying fluorescence images

An excitation light irradiating device irradiates excitation light to a measuring site. A fluorescence imaging device performs an imaging operation for detecting a fluorescence image formed with fluorescence, which has been produced from the measuring site when the excitation light is irradiated to the measuring site. An illumination device irradiates illumination light to the measuring site. An ordinary imaging device performs an imaging operation for detecting an ordinary image formed with reflected light of the illumination light. A controller controls such that the imaging operation for detecting the fluorescence image and the imaging operation for detecting the ordinary image are performed alternately, and such that an operation for throwing off accumulated electric charges is performed before the imaging operation of the fluorescence imaging device is performed and/or before the imaging operation of the ordinary imaging device is performed.

Fluorescence imaging apparatus

When a fluorescence image is to be displayed, a region of interest in a living body is irradiated with excitation light so that the fluorescence emitted therefrom is detected by a cold CCD camera via image fibers. A color mosaic filter is fixed on the detection surface of the cold CCD camera so that the fluorescence is separated into three fluorescence components corresponding to red, green and blue wavelength ranges before being detected. The signal intensity corresponding to the red wavelength range is divided by the total signal intensity which is the sum of the signal intensities corresponding to the red, green and blue wavelength ranges. A visual image displayed on the monitor is based on thus divided signal intensity. As it is quite rare that the total signal intensity becomes zero, occurrence of an operation error due to division by the value of zero can be restrained.

Fluorescence detecting apparatus

A complementary color filter transmits only fluorescence components of fluorescence having been produced from a measuring site exposed to excitation light, which fluorescence components have wavelengths falling within a wavelength region acting as a complementary color with respect to a desired wavelength region. A complementary color signal intensity detector detects a signal intensity of the fluorescence components having passed through the complementary color filter. An entire signal intensity detector detects a signal intensity of fluorescence components, which have wavelengths falling within an entire measurement wavelength region. A signal intensity of fluorescence components, which have wavelengths falling within the desired wavelength region, is calculated from the signal intensities detected by the complementary color signal intensity detector and the entire signal intensity detector. Image information in accordance with the thus calculated signal intensity is displayed.

Exciting light is projected onto a specimen such as an organic body, and an intensity in at least one wavelength range of fluorescence emitted from the specimen upon excitation by the exciting light is detected. Image data representing a fluorescence image of the specimen is obtained through an operation based on the intensity of the fluorescence. Whether each of pixels forming the fluorescence image is adequate for said operation is determined on the basis of the intensity of the fluorescence of each pixel. The operation is carried out on adequate pixels, which have been determined to be adequate for the operation, to obtain values for the adequate pixels while values which will not visually adversely affect the part of the fluorescence image corresponding to the adequate pixels are allotted to inadequate pixels, which have been determined not to be adequate for said operation.

Method of and apparatus for obtaining fluorescence image

Excitation light and reference light are irradiated to living body tissues, the excitation light causing the living body tissues to produce intrinsic fluorescence. The intrinsic fluorescence, which has been produced from the living body tissues when the excitation light is irradiated to the living body tissues, is detected as an intrinsic fluorescence image signal. Reflected reference light, which has been reflected from the living body tissues when the reference light is irradiated to the living body tissues, is detected as a reference light image signal. Display signals are formed from the intrinsic fluorescence image signal and the reference light image signal. Information concerning the living body tissues is displayed by utilizing the formed display signals. The display signals are formed such that an intensity of the reflected reference light is primarily reflected upon luminance, and a relative intensity of the intrinsic fluorescence is primarily reflected upon color.

Method and apparatus for displaying fluorescence images

A fluorescence observing apparatus including a light source for emitting excitation light, an excitation light irradiation section for irradiating the excitation light to a sample, and a fluorescence measurement section for measuring fluorescence emitted from the sample by the irradiation of the excitation light. The temperature of the light source is always sensed by a thermistor, and a Peltier element disposed in direct contact with the light source is cooled by a control section so that the temperature of the light source is maintained at 20&deg; C. or less.

A blood-constituent concentration measuring instrument capable of accurately measuring concentrations of the constituent parts of blood without invading tissue. Light source means (1) emits measuring light (S) to a living organism (2). The measuring light (S) consists of a plurality of wavelength components different from one another. Straight-advance light discrimination means (3) extracts a straight-advance light component or a scattered light component close thereto from light scattered at the living organism (2). Then, extinction-index change detection means (4) detects an extinction index change in straight-advance light component or the scattered light component extracted by the straight-advance light discrimination means (4). Calculation means (5) calculates concentrations of the constituent parts of the blood, based on the extinction index change for each wavelength component of the measuring light.

Growing community of inventors

Kaisei-machi, Japan

Katsumi Hayashi