Calibration Apparatus Reference Reflection Plate Optical Signal Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current optical measurement apparatuses face challenges in accurately calibrating scattered light from weak scattering media, such as body tissue, for non-invasive cancer detection, due to variations in light detection and interference patterns, which affect the reliability of early cancer diagnosis.
Innovation Solution
A calibration apparatus and method that utilize a measurement probe with an illumination fiber and detection fibers, along with a reference reflection plate with uniform light reflectivity and a scattering mean free path greater than the spatial coherence length, to correct returned light signals, ensuring consistent detection intensities across different detection fibers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If detection fibers are arranged at different plural positions to obtain interference patterns, then measurement capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A calibration phantom with controlled scattering properties is introduced as an intermediary medium. The phantom contains scattering particles with known concentration and size distribution, creating a standardized light scattering environment that enables calibration of the detection system without requiring complex in vivo tissue models.
Solution Approach 2:
The calibration phantom utilizes particles with specific scattering coefficients and mean free paths that can be precisely controlled. By adjusting particle concentration, size, and material properties, the scattering parameters are changed to match or exceed the complexity of actual tissue, enabling accurate calibration of the detection system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If calibration is performed using weak scattering media like body tissue, then measurement relevance is improved, but calibration reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The calibration phantom uses scattering particles with controlled optical properties (scattering coefficient, anisotropy factor) that can be precisely adjusted. By changing these parameters, the phantom can be calibrated to match specific tissue types while maintaining stable, reproducible scattering characteristics that improve calibration reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The calibration phantom employs composite materials containing scattering particles suspended in a matrix medium. This composite structure allows precise control over the scattering properties while maintaining mechanical stability and optical uniformity, enabling reliable calibration that can be replicated across different measurements.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If interference patterns are used to detect tissue structural changes, then diagnostic capability is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to variations in light detection
Solution Approach 1:
The calibration process establishes a reference interference pattern using the phantom, which is then used to normalize subsequent tissue measurements. This feedback mechanism allows the system to compensate for variations in light detection by comparing actual measurements against the calibrated reference, improving measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the scattering parameters of the calibration phantom to match the specific tissue being measured. By adjusting particle concentration, size distribution, and material properties, the phantom creates a standardized reference that improves the consistency and precision of interference pattern measurements across different tissue types.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables precise calibration of optical measurement apparatuses, improving the reliability of early cancer detection by stabilizing interference patterns and enhancing the accuracy of internal structural changes in tissue analysis.
Implementation Method 1
a reference reflection plate that is arranged at a position away from a distal end of the measurement probe by a predetermined distance... having uniform reflectivity of light in a range of the wavelength to be measured
Implementation Method 2
measures, as an amount of scattering and absorption of light, information related to an internal structure of an object to be measured... backward scattered returned light from a comparatively weak scattering medium
Implementation Method 3
backward scattered returned light from a comparatively weak scattering medium such as body tissue has been known to be observed as light that increases interference according to a degree of spatial coherence of illumination light
Data Source
AI summary
A calibration apparatus includes an insertion portion into which a measurement probe is inserted and a reference reflection plate that is arranged at a position away from a distal end of the measurement probe by a predetermined distance in a state in which the measurement probe has been inserted in the insertion portion and that has uniform reflectivity of light in a range of a wavelength to be measured in an irradiation plane of an illumination light, wherein a material forming the reference reflection plate has a scattering mean free path that is greater than a spatial coherence length at the predetermined distance.