EP0467459A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Near infrared diagnostic method and instrument
Assignee: Eastman Kodak Co
•
Filing: 1991-07-11
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2011-07-11
Abstract
Abstract In laser angioplasty, it is often difficult to distinguish between healthy and diseased vascular tissue due to the low penetration power of the radiation used for illumination and other problems associated with the detection of the diseased tissue. Described herein is an instrument (10) and method for using near infrared radiation to discriminate between healthy and diseased tissue using a catheter (12) and a spectrophotometer (56). Near infrared radiation is passed at certain wavelengths to suspected tissue, and the light reflected back from that tissue is analyzed to determine the absorbance, and preferably the second derivative thereof. From identification of the absorption spectra of known diseased and known healthy tissue, it is possible to determine which tissue portions need to be treated using, for example, an ablation laser.
Inventors
- 👤 Jeffrey Lawrence Eastman Kodak Company Helfer
- 👤 Steven Casimir EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY Switalski
- 👤 Huse-Yang Eastman Kodak Company Liu
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 04:39
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/0059; A61B5/0082; A61B5/0084; A61B5/0086; A61B18/00; A61B18/18; A61B18/20; A61B18/22; A61B18/24; A61B18/245; A61B5/0075; A61B5/145; A61B5/1455; A61B5/1459; A61B17/00; A61B2017/00017; A61B2017/00022; A61B2017/00057; A61B2017/00061
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
167 words
An instrument (10) for detecting and selectively treating diseased portions of body tissue, the instrument (10) comprising:- illuminating means (20, 22, 24, 26, 28) for illuminating portions of the body tissue with light energy; collecting means (50, 52, 55) for collecting light which is not absorbed by the tissue portions; and processing means (54, 56, 58) for determining light absorbance by the illuminated body tissue from the collected light; characterized in that the illuminating means (20, 22, 24, 26, 28), the collecting means (50, 52, 55), and processing means (54, 56, 58) are constructed to operate at predetermined wavelengths selected from the range of between 1000nm and 2500nm, the predetermined wavelengths being effective to be selectively absorbed by a preselected component of the tissue; and in that the processing means (54, 56, 58) further includes discriminating means (56, 58) for discriminating one illuminated tissue component from another illuminated tissue component at the predetermined wavelengths in order to identify and locate which of the tissue portions is diseased.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
167 words
An instrument (10) for detecting and selectively treating diseased portions of body tissue, the instrument (10) comprising:- illuminating means (20, 22, 24, 26, 28) for illuminating portions of the body tissue with light energy; collecting means (50, 52, 55) for collecting light which is not absorbed by the tissue portions; and processing means (54, 56, 58) for determining light absorbance by the illuminated body tissue from the collected light; characterized in that the illuminating means (20, 22, 24, 26, 28), the collecting means (50, 52, 55), and processing means (54, 56, 58) are constructed to operate at predetermined wavelengths selected from the range of between 1000nm and 2500nm, the predetermined wavelengths being effective to be selectively absorbed by a preselected component of the tissue; and in that the processing means (54, 56, 58) further includes discriminating means (56, 58) for discriminating one illuminated tissue component from another illuminated tissue component at the predetermined wavelengths in order to identify and locate which of the tissue portions is diseased.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
20 words
An instrument according to claim 1, further including treatment means (30, 32, 60) for treating only the diseased tissue portions.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
38 words
An instrument according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the illuminating means (20, 22, 24, 26, 28) include light-energy generating means (22) for generating the predetermined wavelengths, and at least one optical fiber (15) for transmitting the wavelengths.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
37 words
An instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the illuminating means (20, 22, 24, 26, 28) selectively illuminate at a plurality of wavelengths selectively absorbed by particular diseased components of the body tissue.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
An instrument according to claim 4, wherein the wavelengths are selectively absorbed by cholesterol esters and the body tissues are cardiovascular tissues.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
An instrument according to claim 5, wherein the wavelengths are selected from between 1660nm and 1740nm.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
210 words
A surgical instrument (10) suitable for atherosclerosis treatment comprising:- a catheter (12, 15) having a distal end (16) constructed to penetrate a blood vessel, a proximal end (14) constructed to remain outside the blood vessel, and a body portion connecting the ends (14, 16), the ends (14, 16) and body portion including at least one optical fiber (15) capable of delivering illumination light of desired wavelengths, the distal end (16) further including optical means for transmitting light energy from the fibers (15) to a blood vessel and for receiving light energy from the illuminated blood vessel, characterized in that the proximal end (14) further includes illuminating means (20, 22, 24, 26, 28) for generating light energy at predetermined wavelengths between 1660nm and 1740nm, delivery means (30, 32, 34, 36, 38) for delivering the generated light energy to the at least one fiber (15), detection means (50, 52, 55) for detecting the amount of generated energy which is not absorbed by illuminated tissue in a blood vessel, and discrimination means (56, 58) for discriminating illuminated healthy tissue from illuminated diseased tissue at the wavelengths, and in that the instrument (10) further includes treating means (60) for selectively treating only the illuminated diseased tissue as determined by the discriminating means (56, 58).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
210 words
A surgical instrument (10) suitable for atherosclerosis treatment comprising:- a catheter (12, 15) having a distal end (16) constructed to penetrate a blood vessel, a proximal end (14) constructed to remain outside the blood vessel, and a body portion connecting the ends (14, 16), the ends (14, 16) and body portion including at least one optical fiber (15) capable of delivering illumination light of desired wavelengths, the distal end (16) further including optical means for transmitting light energy from the fibers (15) to a blood vessel and for receiving light energy from the illuminated blood vessel, characterized in that the proximal end (14) further includes illuminating means (20, 22, 24, 26, 28) for generating light energy at predetermined wavelengths between 1660nm and 1740nm, delivery means (30, 32, 34, 36, 38) for delivering the generated light energy to the at least one fiber (15), detection means (50, 52, 55) for detecting the amount of generated energy which is not absorbed by illuminated tissue in a blood vessel, and discrimination means (56, 58) for discriminating illuminated healthy tissue from illuminated diseased tissue at the wavelengths, and in that the instrument (10) further includes treating means (60) for selectively treating only the illuminated diseased tissue as determined by the discriminating means (56, 58).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
47 words
An instrument according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the predetermined wavelengths generated by the illuminating means (20, 22, 24, 26, 28) comprise wavelengths which are absorbed by at least some of the components of deposits which are not present in healthy blood vessel tissue.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
23 words
An instrument according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the predetermined wavelengths are 1678 ± 20nm and 1714 ± 20nm.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
59 words
An instrument according to any one of claims 2, 7, 8 or 9, wherein the treating means (30, 32, 60) comprise an ablating laser (60) and switching means (32) operatively connecting the ablating laser (60) to the at least one fiber (15) only when the fiber (15) is illuminating diseased tissue as determined by the discriminating means (56, 58).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
68 words
An instrument according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the discriminating means (56, 58) comprise conversion means for converting the absorbance amounts into second derivative values, storage means for storing a disease index equation, solution means for solving this equation using the second derivative values, and comparison means for comparing the disease index value against a threshold value for diseased and healthy conditions of the tissues.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
66 words
An instrument according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the discriminating means (56, 58) uses the equation wherein A(gi) and A(g 2 ) are the absorbances or the first or second derivatives of the absorbances of the tissue at the two predetermined wavelengths, and Co, C 1 and C 2 are predetermined constants, and compares the calculated y value against a predetermined threshold value.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
104 words
A method of detecting certain tissue in body tissue comprising the steps of:- a) illuminating portions of the body tissue with light energy; b) collecting the light which is not absorbed from the tissue portions; c) examining the amounts of absorbance of the light as determined from the collected amounts not absorbed by the illuminated body tissue, and d) discriminating one illuminated tissue component from another illuminated tissue component using predetermined wavelengths selected from the range of between 1000 and 2500nm, the predetermined wavelengths being effective to be selectively absorbed by a preselected component of the tissue to identify and locate diseased body tissue.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
104 words
A method of detecting certain tissue in body tissue comprising the steps of:- a) illuminating portions of the body tissue with light energy; b) collecting the light which is not absorbed from the tissue portions; c) examining the amounts of absorbance of the light as determined from the collected amounts not absorbed by the illuminated body tissue, and d) discriminating one illuminated tissue component from another illuminated tissue component using predetermined wavelengths selected from the range of between 1000 and 2500nm, the predetermined wavelengths being effective to be selectively absorbed by a preselected component of the tissue to identify and locate diseased body tissue.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
52 words
A method according to claim 13, wherein step d) further includes the steps of:- i) converting the absorbance amounts into second derivative values, ii) solving a disease index equation using the second derivative values, and iii) comparing the solved disease index value against a threshold value for diseased conditions of the tissues.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
85 words
A method according to claim 13, wherein the step a) comprises illuminating the body tissue at two predetermined wavelengths gi and g 2 within the 1000nm to 2500nm range, and step d) comprises calculating y from the equation: wherein A(gi) and A(g 2 ) are the absorbances or the first or second derivatives of the absorbances of the tissue at the two predetermined wavelengths, and Co, C 1 and C 2 are predetermined constants, and comparing the calculated y value against a predetermined threshold value.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
10 words
A method according to claim 15, wherein the equation is
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.