(54) OPTICAL IMAGING OF BLOOD CIRCULATION VELOCITIES
(75) Inventors: Leonard W. Winchester, Jr., Yorktown, VA (US); Nee-Yin Chou, Yorktown, VA (US)
(73) Assignee: WinTec, LLC, Yorktown, VA (US)
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 402 days.
(21) Appl. No.: 09/969,660
(22) Filed: Oct. 4, 2001
(51) Int. CI.
A61B 6/00 (2006.01)
(52) U.S. CI 600/476; 600/477; 600/478;
600/473; 128/668; 356/27; 356/58; 382/107;
382/134; 73/342
(58) Field of Classification Search 600/473,
600/476, 479, 504, 363, 407, 310 See application file for complete search history.
(56) References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
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4,952,050 A * 8/1990 Aizu et al 351/221
4,979,818 A * 12/1990 Kobayashi 356/28
5,240,006 A * 8/1993 Fujii et al 600/425
5,291,886 A * 3/1994 Katayama et al 600/310
New devices and methods are provided for noninvasive and noncontact real-time measurements of tissue blood velocity. The invention uses a digital imaging device such as a detector array that allows independent intensity measurements at each pixel to capture images of laser speckle patterns on any surfaces, such as tissue surfaces. The laser speckle is generated by illuminating the surface of interest with an expanded beam from a laser source such as a laser diode or a HeNe laser as long as the detector can detect that particular laser radiation. Digitized speckle images are analyzed using new algorithms for tissue optics and blood optics employing multiple scattering analysis and laser Doppler velocimetry analysis. The resultant two-dimensional images can be displayed on a color monitor and superimposed on images of the tissues.
30 Claims, 9 Drawing Sheets
