Snapshot multispectral imager for medical applications
Inventors
McCormick, Kyle Ryan • Nascimento, Jaclyn • Dombrowski, Mark
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-11162844-B2
Publication Date
2021-11-02
Expiration Date
Abstract
The present invention is a camera with video-rate acquisition and processing for medical imaging applications. In particular, the invention is used to determine the health of a body area by quantitatively measuring blood oxygen levels and melanin content from a real-time video image of a body segment. In certain embodiments, a camera comprises an objective lens; a filter tray located at an aperture stop of the objective lens, wherein the filter tray comprises a plurality of elements, each element passes a spectral band of light; a micro-lens array located at an exit pupil of the objective lens comprising a plurality of micro lenses to form an image plane, wherein the objective lens produces a focused image at the image plane; and a focal plane array comprising a plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor receives light from at least one micro-lens of the micro-lens array.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a camera-based method in which an image is passed through a first filter tray and an objective lens. The first filter tray comprises a plurality of first elements, and each first element passes a unique spectral frequency band preselected for a first diagnostic medical imaging application. The unique spectral frequency band for each first element is selected based on specified center wavelength values in nanometers (nm), plus or minus 1 percent.
The method focuses the image via the objective lens onto a micro-lens array (MLA) comprising a plurality of micro lenses. The method re-imaging the image, via each one of the plurality of micro lenses, onto each one of a plurality of sensors within a focal plane array (FPA). The method filters each re-image associated with each one of the plurality of micro lenses into a number N of spectral bands, where N is equal to or greater than two.
The method generates an image for each spectral band and processes the generated images for each spectral band to determine a parameter. In the described implementation, the parameter includes blood oxygenation based on oxygenated hemoglobin and deoxygenated hemoglobin, and also includes skin-related biomarkers such as melanin content and skin thickness from real-time video.
Claims Coverage
The independent claim includes core division-of-wavefront capture via an aperture-stop filter tray feeding an MLA and focal plane array, followed by filtering into N (N≥2) spectral bands and processing the per-band images to determine a parameter.
Passing an image through a first filter tray and objective lens selecting unique spectral frequency bands
Passing an image through a first filter tray and an objective lens, wherein the first filter tray comprises a plurality of first elements, each first element passes a unique spectral frequency band of light preselected for a first diagnostic medical imaging application; selecting the unique spectral frequency band that each first element passes based on center wavelength values in nanometers (nm), plus or minus 1 percent.
Focusing onto a micro-lens array and re-imaging onto a focal plane array
Focusing, via the objective lens, the image onto a micro-lens array (MLA) comprising a plurality of micro lenses; re-imaging the image, via each one of the plurality of micro lenses, onto each one of a plurality of sensors within a focal plane array (FPA).
Filtering each re-image into N spectral bands and generating per-band images
Filtering each re-image associated with each one of the plurality of micro lenses into a number N of spectral bands, where N is equal to or greater than two; generating an image for each spectral band.
Processing per-band images to determine a parameter
Processing the generated images for each spectral band to determine a parameter.
Across the independent claim, the claim coverage centers on selecting unique spectral frequency bands with a filter tray, mapping the image through an MLA to an FPA, filtering into N spectral bands (N≥2), generating images for each spectral band, and processing them to determine a parameter.
Stated Advantages
Resilience to jitter/motion versus scanning/hyperspectral approaches.
Documented Applications
Real-time video measurement and imaging to determine blood oxygenation using oxygenated hemoglobin and deoxygenated hemoglobin.
Real-time video measurement to determine skin-related biomarkers including melanin content and skin thickness.
Imaging/measurement related to finger cuff removal time series.
Wound-related context described as burn/ulcer/diabetic foot and wound healing.
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