The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 07, 1997
Filed:
Mar. 28, 1994
Calum MacAulay, Vancouver, CA;
Branko Palcic, Vancouver, CA;
Stephen Lam, Vancouver, CA;
Bruno Jaggi, Vancouver, CA;
Xillix Technologies Corp., Vancouver, CA;
Abstract
An apparatus and method for imaging diseases in tissue are presented. The apparatus employs a light source for producing excitation light to excite the tissue to generate autofluorescence light and for producing illumination light to generate reflected and back scattered light (remittance light) from the tissue. Optical sensors are used to receive the autofluorescence light and the remittance light to collect an autofluorescence light image and a remittance light image. A filter acts to integrate the autofluorescence image over a range of wavelengths in which the autofluorescence intensity for normal tissue is substantially different from the autofluorescence intensity for diseased tissue to establish an integrated autofluorescence image of the tissue. The remittance light image provides a background image to normalize the autofluorescence image to account for image non-uniformity due to changes in distance, angle and illumination intensity. A monitor displays the integrated autofluorescence image and the remittance light image to produce a normalized image in which diseased tissue is distinguishable from normal tissue. The optical sensor can be installed adjacent the end of an endoscope probe inserted into a body cavity. A method for imaging diseased tissue using an integrated fluorescence image and a normalizing remittance image is also disclosed.