284 results about "Transillumination" patented technology

Sinusitis, enlarged nasal turbinates, tumors, infections, hearing disorders, allergic conditions, facial fractures and other disorders of the ear, nose and throat are diagnosed and / or treated using minimally invasive approaches and, in many cases, flexible catheters as opposed to instruments having rigid shafts. Various diagnostic procedures and devices are used to perform imaging studies, mucus flow studies, air / gas flow studies, anatomic dimension studies, endoscopic studies and transillumination studies. Access and occluder devices may be used to establish fluid tight seals in the anterior or posterior nasal cavities / nasopharynx and to facilitate insertion of working devices (e.g., scopes, guidewires, catheters, tissue cutting or remodeling devices, electrosurgical devices, energy emitting devices, devices for injecting diagnostic or therapeutic agents, devices for implanting devices such as stents, substance eluting devices, substance delivery implants, etc.

Devices and methods are provided for temporarily inducing cardioplegic arrest in the heart of a patient and for establishing cardiopulmonary bypass in order to facilitate surgical procedures on the heart and its related blood vessels. Specifically, a catheter based system is provided for isolating the heart and coronary blood vessels of a patient from the remainder of the arterial system and for infusing a cardioplegic agent into the patient's coronary arteries to induce cardioplegic arrest in the heart. The system includes an endoaortic partitioning catheter having an expandable balloon at its distal end which is expanded within the ascending aorta to occlude the aortic lumen between the coronary ostia and the brachiocephalic artery. Means for centering the catheter tip within the ascending aorta include specially curved shaft configurations, eccentric or shaped occlusion balloons and a steerable catheter tip, which may be used separately or in combination. The shaft of the catheter may have a coaxial or multilumen construction. The catheter may further include piezoelectric pressure transducers at the distal tip of the catheter and within the occlusion balloon. Means to facilitate nonfluoroscopic placement of the catheter include fiberoptic transillumination of the aorta and a secondary balloon at the distal tip of the catheter for atraumatically contacting the aortic valve. The system further includes a dual purpose arterial bypass cannula and introducer sheath for introducing the catheter into a peripheral artery of the patient.

Sinusitis, enlarged nasal turbinates, tumors, infections, hearing disorders, allergic conditions, facial fractures and other disorders of the ear, nose and throat are diagnosed and / or treated using minimally invasive approaches and, in many cases, flexible catheters as opposed to instruments having rigid shafts. Various diagnostic procedures and devices are used to perform imaging studies, mucus flow studies, air / gas flow studies, anatomic dimension studies, endoscopic studies and transillumination studies. Access and occluder devices may be used to establish fluid tight seals in the anterior or posterior nasal cavities / nasopharynx and to facilitate insertion of working devices (e.g., scopes, guidewires, catheters, tissue cutting or remodeling devices, electrosurgical devices, energy emitting devices, devices for injecting diagnostic or therapeutic agents, devices for implanting devices such as stents, substance eluting devices, substance delivery implants, etc.

A method for detecting tooth decay and other tooth anomalies wherein a tooth is transilluminated with a near-infrared light source preferably in the range from approximately 795-nm to approximately 1600-nm, more preferably in the range from approximately 830-nm to approximately 1550-nm, more preferably in the range from approximately 1285-nm to approximately 1335-nm, and more preferably at a wavelength of approximately 1310-nm, and the light passing through the tooth is imaged for determining an area of decay in the tooth. The light source is a fiber-optic bundle coupled to a halogen lamp or more preferably a superluminescent diode, and the imaging device is preferably a CCD camera or a focal plane array (FPA).

Transillumination imaging instrumentation is improved by eliminating the detection of stray light beams, and facilitating the detection of light beams which pass straight through an illuminated object. Three dimensional images can be constructed using either curved emitter and detector arrays or by using emitter and detector elements that rotate about a common axis.

Apparatus is provided that provides a ring of light around a junction to be viewed; the ring of light being bright enough to be seen on the other side of the junction. Such an arrangement may be used in severing an anatomic body, such as the cervix, from the vagina whereby a surgeon viewing the structure from the pelvic cavity has the junction outlined in light brought into contact with the junction through the vagina.

A system and method provide normalized fluorescence epi-illumination images and normalized fluorescence transillumination images. The normalization can be used to improve two-dimensional (planar) fluorescence epi-illumination images and two-dimensional (planar) fluorescence transillumination images. The system and method can also provide normalized bioluminescence epi-illumination images and normalized bioluminescence transillumination images. In some arrangements, the system and method can provide imagine of small animals, into-operative imaging, endoscopic imaging, and / or imaging of hollow organs.

This invention relates to an in-vivo diagnostic method based on near infrared radiation (NIR radiation) that uses water-soluble dyes and their biomolecule adducts, each having specific photophysical and pharmaco-chemical properties, as a contrast medium for fluorescence and transillumination diagnostics in the NIR range, to new dyes and pharmaceuticals containing such dyes.

Transillumination uses light to image tissues and organs, specifically the veins within the tissue. Strong ambient light hinders the imaging of veins and often, transillumination must be done in a dark or dim room. To enhance the capabilities of a transilluminator, a light shield is placed over the viewing area of the transilluminator so that turning off or dimming of ambient light is not necessary. For pediatric care, a frustroconical adapter attached to the bottom of the transilluminator. The adapter reduces the size of the viewing area.

This invention relates to an in-vivo diagnostic method based on near infrared radiation (NIR radiation) that uses water-soluble dyes and their biomolecule adducts, each having specific photophysical and pharmaco-chemical properties, as a contrast medium for fluorescence and transillumination diagnostics in the NIR range, to new dyes and pharmaceuticals containing such dyes.

A method for the real-time visualization and detection of extravasated and or infiltrated fluid and substances, including blood, that occur near the cannulation site of an injection is described wherein illumination or transillumination with near infrared light is used to image the contrast in real-time between absorbing and nonabsorbing subdermal and intradermal structures of blood vessels and remaining surrounding tissue, foreign substances and other structures in order to establish a baseline image of the body area of interest, and any new image is monitored and compared with the baseline image to detect the extravasation and / or infiltration of fluids and substances, including blood, around a vein or artery into the subdermal or intradermal tissue.

A device for visually combining patient image data from transillumination and / or tomographic imaging methods with object image data comprising video images includes an image display device and at least one video camera associated with the image display device as a portable unit. A computer-assisted navigation system can detect the spatial positions of the image display device and / or the video camera as well as the spatial positions of a part of the patient's body via tracking means. An input device can be provided on the image display device, which enables inputs for image-assisted treatment or treatment planning.

An apparatus and method for identifying a body member during a body intrusive procedure includes infrared light energy which is applied to the body member. Substantially visible infrared free light is introduced into the region. The body member is located by detecting the infrared light energy applied thereto. The infrared light energy may be applied to the body member via a light guide which is inserted into or placed in contact with the body member. In addition, a body member to be located may be illuminated from one side and the location of the illuminator detected by a probe on the other side of the body member.

Radiographic system and method for noninvasively assessing the response of tissue to a compound, such as a therapeutic compound. In one embodiment, a non-radioactive, radio-opaque imaging agent accumulates in tissue in proportion to the tissue concentration of a predefined cellular target. The imaging agent is administered to a live organism, and after an accumulation interval, radiographic images are acquired. The tissue being examined is transilluminated by X-ray beams with preselected different mean energy spectra, and a separate radiographic image is acquired during transillumination by each beam. An image processing system performs a weighted combination of the acquired images to produce a first image. The image processing procedure isolates the radiographic density contributed solely by differential tissue accumulation of the imaging agent. A compound is administered to the organism, and after a selected interval, a second radiographic image of the tissue is acquired. Radiographic density contributed by accumulated imaging agent in corresponding areas of tissue in the first and second images are compared. Differences in radiographic density between the images reflect changes in the concentration of the cellular target that have occurred after administration of the compound. The system and method may be used to assess therapeutic efficacy of compounds in the drug discovery process, in clinical trials, and in the evaluation of clinical treatment. In other embodiments, pharmacological and toxicological effects of a wide variety of compounds on tissue may be noninvasively assessed.

The present invention uses spectroscopic tissue volume measurements using non-ionizing radiation to detect pre-disease transformations in the tissue, which increase the risk for this disease in mammals. The method comprises illuminating a volume of selected tissue of a mammal with light having wavelengths covering a pre-selected spectral range, detecting light transmitted through, or reflected from, the volume of selected tissue, and obtaining a spectrum of the detected light. The spectrum of detected light is then represented by one or more basis spectral components, an error term, and an associated scalar coefficient for each of the basis spectral components. The associated scalar coefficient is calculated by minimizing the error term. The associated scalar coefficient of the each of the basis spectral components is correlated with a pre-selected property of the selected tissue known to be indicative of susceptibility of the tissue for the pre-selected disease to obtain the susceptibility for the mammal to developing the pre-selected disease.

A system for visually combining patient image data from transillumination and / or tomographic imaging methods and / or object image data with video images includes an image display device having an auto-stereoscopic monitor, at least one camera and a computer-assisted navigation system. The navigation system is operable to detect spatial positions of a part of the patient's body via a first tracking device attached to the body, and spatial positions of said image display device and / or said at least one camera via a second tracking device attached to the image display device or the camera, wherein the image display device and the at least one camera are assigned to each other and are formed as a portable unit.

Various diagnostic procedures and devices are used to perform imaging studies, mucus flow studies, air / gas flow studies, anatomic dimension studies, endoscopic studies and transillumination studies. Devices and methods for visually confirming the positioning of a distal end portion of an illuminating device placed within a patient include inserting a distal end portion of an illuminating device internally into a patient, emitting light from the distal end portion of the illuminating device, observing transillumination resulting from the light emitted from the distal end portion of the illuminating device that occurs on an external surface of the patient, and correlating the location of the observed transillumination on the external surface of the patient with an internal location of the patient that underlies the location of observed transillumination, to confirm positioning of the distal end portion of the illuminating device.

A probe for use with a pulse oximeter apparatus is disclosed, as are a fixture for and a method of making the probe. The probe includes a housing and two fiber optic bundles. The first bundle has an emitter portion at one end, and is used for conducting light from a source thereof to the emitter portion from which the light is transmitted for transillumination through a body part. The second bundle is for conducting the transilluminated light incident upon a detector portion thereof to the pulse oximeter apparatus. The housing is overmolded onto the bundles so that the emitter and detector portions are securely positioned diametrically opposite each other across an opening defined by the housing. The overmolding makes the alignment of the emitter and detector portions largely impervious to movement of the body part when placed within the opening and thus between the emitter and detector portions.

The invention discloses a computer tomographic scanning imaging device, which comprises a variable dose CT scanning module used for adjusting the tube voltage of the X ray source in real time according to changes of effective thickness of an object to be detected in the X ray transillumination direction in the scanning process, implementing the circular locus X-CT scanning to the object to be detected according to the adjusted tube voltage of the X ray source, and sending the scanned projection images to a CT reconstruction module; and the CT reconstruction module is used for reconstructing CT according to the received projection images so as to obtain tomographic images of the object to be detected. The invention meanwhile discloses a computer tomographic scanning imaging method. The device and method of the invention are applicable to objects under detection with any complex structure, and will not be influenced by changes of effective thickness of the object to be detected in X ray transillumination direction.

Apparatus, including a surgical kit, for use with a surgical drill, in the repair of bones using an intramedullary nail insertable into a patient's bone, comprising a rod like device for insertion into the intramedullary nail, the device having a light source emitting electromagnetic non-ionizing radiation in the infrared or visible portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the device being positionable so that the light source emits the radiation through a distal transverse hole of the intramedullary nail; and a surgical instrument for exposing an exterior surface of a portion of the bone illuminated by the radiation for view by the surgeon. The surgeon can detect the radiation on the exterior surface of the bone and align the surgical drill to the radiation passing through the transverse hole of the intramedullary nail, permitting accurate drilling of a hole through the bone and passage of the drill through the transverse hole of the intramedullary nail.

The invention discloses a non-destructive identification method for a material of an integral coil of a distribution transformer. The non-destructive identification method based on the difference of attenuation coefficients of copper, steel and aluminum to X rays includes photographing the distribution transformer in a integral state by the X rays; measuring blackness of photographed negative films of the rays by a black and white densitometer; inputting measured blackness values into a computer; and computing X-ray attenuation coefficient and transillumination thickness curves, which are stored in the computer, of the copper, the steel and the aluminum corresponding to different X-ray tubes and comparing the X-ray attenuation coefficient and transillumination thickness curves with a characteristic curve of the industrial ray films, and judging whether the winding coil of the distribution transformer is made of the aluminum or the copper.

Cassette electrophoresis systems that allow viewing of molecules during the electrophoresis run are disclosed. Cassette electrophoresis bases that reversibly engage light sources, such as light source bases are disclosed. Also disclosed are visible light transillumination systems for viewing a pattern of fluorescence emitted by fluorophores comprising a cassette housing fluorophore-containing material and a base unit to support the cassette. In some aspects the base unit that includes a power supply also houses a light source having output in the visible wavelength region and a filter placed between the light source and the fluorophores. The system is constructed and arranged such that patterns of fluorescence emitted by the fluorophores are viewable. Also described are charging devices for providing charge to gel electrophoresis systems, portable gel electrophoresis systems and methods of use thereof.

The invention relates to a radiographic testing method for welding beams under the radioactive environment of a nuclear power station. The radiographic testing method is used for testing the welding seams through rays under the radioactive environment. The radiographic testing method comprises three stages of preparation, operation and after-treatment, wherein the preparation of a tag system, the assembly of a hidden bag system, the debugging of an exposure system, the manufacture of an auxiliary accessory system and the budgeting of a data computing system are involved in the preparation stage; in the operation stage, a lead rule and a tag identification label are connected near the welding seams to locate the welding seams, the hidden bag system is fixed so as to cover the welding seams, and a spherical center exposure method or a central exposure method or a double-wall single image exposure method or a double-wall double-image exposure method is adopted for imaging on a photographic film; and in the after-treatment stage, the photographic film is processed into a negative film, and the negative film is evaluated. The radiographic testing method has the advantages that the working procedures and tools in the traditional radiographic testing processed are optimized, the accuracy is high, less time is consumed, the imaging quality is high, and the transillumination risk of workers in a high radiation region is effectively reduced.

The invention relates to a method for detecting internal defects of power equipment, in particular to a method for visually and intelligently identifying internal defects of GIS (Geographic Information System) equipment. The method for visually and intelligently identifying internal defects of the GIS equipment comprises the following steps of: A, detecting a local discharge source of the GIS equipment; B, extracting map characteristics of detected local discharge source data; C, performing visual imaging on a local discharge source area to form an X-ray transillumination picture; D, performing characteristic extraction on the X-ray transillumination picture obtained by using an X-ray digital imaging detection system; E, performing similarity retrieval; and F, determining the properties and positions of internal defects of the GIS equipment according to a similarity retrieval result. According to the method, the properties and positions of the internal defects of the GIS equipment can be identified visually and intelligently, and the scientificity, efficiency and accuracy of the detection and diagnosis of the internal defects of the GIS equipment are increased.

An apparatus and method for protecting a body member from damage during a body intrusive procedure in a region adjacent the body member to be protected includes infrared energy introduced into an emitting light guide that is introduced into the body member to be protected; visible light is introduced into the region, one or both or neither of the lights being pulsed at the frame rate of a monitor energized by a video camera that receives light from such region, the camera being sensitive to infrared energy as well as visible light. In another embodiment of the invention both sources are pulsed in alternation so that the images produced by the different sources are basically emphasized in alternation. A signal source for producing audible and / or visual signals may be provided with a light guide to view the region under investigation. The signal source may be synchronized with the infrared source to protect against false signals produced by the visual light. In a further embodiment, infrared light energy is removed from the visible light and a polarizing filter may be employed to filter the light to the camera to reduce glare. Nerves may be contacted by an infrared emitting probe; the nerves propagating the infrared energy along a length of the nerve. A body member to be located or illuminated may be illuminated from one side and the location of the illuminator detected by a probe on the other side of the body member.

Previously used examination devices and methods mostly operate with reflected visible or UV light to analyze microstructured samples of a wafer (38), for example. The aim of the invention is to increase the possible uses of said devices, i.e. particularly in order to represent structural details, e.g. of wafers that are structured on both sides, which are not visible in VIS or UV because coatings or intermediate materials are not transparent. Said aim is achieved by using IR light as reflected light while creating transillumination (52) which significantly improves contrast in the IR image, among other things, thus allowing the sample to be simultaneously represented in reflected or transmitted IR light and in reflected visible light.

A subcutaneous access device of the invention comprises: a multi-layered structure capable of use in a medical imaging procedure; a light source for transillumination of a body portion of interest of a patient's body; and an attachment portion for attaching the device to the patient's body in a manner such that the body portion of interest is outwardly exposed on a side of the patient's body opposite the light source. The device facilitates hands-free transillumination of the body portion of interest. Kits for subcutaneous access comprise the subcutaneous access device and a light detector for detecting light emitted from the subcutaneous access device.

Devices and methods for visually confirming the positioning of a distal end portion of an illuminating device placed within a patient include inserting a distal end portion of an illuminating device internally into a patient, emitting light from the distal end portion of the illuminating device, observing transillumination resulting from the light emitted from the distal end portion of the illuminating device that occurs on an external surface of the patient, and correlating the location of the observed transillumination on the external surface of the patient with an internal location of the patient that underlies the location of observed transillumination, to confirm positioning of the distal end portion of the illuminating device.