Optics: eye examining – vision testing and correcting – Eye examining or testing instrument – Objective type
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-03
2002-07-16
Manuel, George (Department: 2877)
Optics: eye examining, vision testing and correcting
Eye examining or testing instrument
Objective type
Reexamination Certificate
active
06419361
ABSTRACT:
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to spectral imaging in general and, more particularly, to spectral bio-imaging of the eye which can be used for non-invasive early detection and diagnosis of eye diseases and for detection of spatial organization, distribution and quantification of cellular and tissue natural constituents, structures and organelles, tissue vitality, tissue metabolism, tissue viability, etc., using light reflection, scattering and emission, with high spatial and spectral resolutions.
A spectrometer is an apparatus designed to accept light, to separate (disperse) it into its component wavelengths and measure a spectrum, that is the intensity of the light as a function of its wavelength. An imaging spectrometer (also referred to hereinbelow as a spectral imager) is one which collects incident light from a scene and measures the spectra of each pixel or picture element thereof.
Spectroscopy is a well known analytical tool which has been used for decades in science and industry to characterize materials and processes based on the spectral signature of chemical constituents. The physical basis of spectroscopy is the interaction of light with matter. Traditionally, spectroscopy is the measurement of the light intensity emitted, transmitted, scattered or reflected from a sample, as a function of wavelength, at high spectral resolution, but without any spatial information.
Spectral imaging, on the other hand, is a combination of high resolution spectroscopy and high resolution imaging (i.e., spatial information). The closest work so far described with respect to the eye concerns either obtaining high spatial resolution information, yet providing only limited spectral information, for example, when high spatial resolution imaging is performed with one or several discrete band-pass filters [see, for example, Patrick J. Saine and Marshall E. Tyler, Ophthalmic Photography, A textbook of retinal photography, angiography, and electronic imaging, Butterworth-Heinemann, Copyright 1997, ISBN 0-7506-9793-8, p. 72], or alternatively, obtaining high spectral resolution (e.g., a full spectrum), yet limited in spatial resolution to a small number of points of the eye or averaged over the whole sample [See for example, Delori F. C., Pfilbsen K. P., Spectral reflectance of the human ocular fundus, Applied Optics Vol. 28, pp. 1061-1077, 1989].
Conceptually, a spectral imaging system consists of (i) a measurement system, and (ii) an analysis software. The measurement system includes all of the optics, electronics, illumination source, etc., as well as calibration means best suited for extracting the desired results from the measurement. The analysis software includes all of the software and mathematical algorithms necessary to analyze and display important results in a meaningful way.
Spectral imaging has been used for decades in the area of remote sensing to provide important insights in the study of Earth and other planets by identifying characteristic spectral absorption features. However, the high cost, size and configuration of remote sensing spectral imaging systems (e.g., Landsat, AVIRIS) has limited their use to air and satellite-born applications [See, Maymon and Neeck (1988) Proceedings of SPIE - Recent Advances in Sensors, Radiometry and Data Processing for Remote Sensing, 924, pp. 10-22; Dozier (1988) Proceedings of SPIE—Recent Advances in Sensors, Radiometry and Data Processing for Remote Sensing, 924, pp. 23-30].
There are three basic types of spectral dispersion methods that might be considered for a spectral bio-imaging system: (i) spectral grating and/or prism, (ii) spectral filters and (iii) interferometric spectroscopy.
In a grating/prism (i.e., monochromator) based systems, also known as slit-type imaging spectrometers, such as for example the DILOR system: [see, Valisa et al. (Sep. 1995) presentation at the SPIE Conference European Medical Optics Week, BiOS Europe '95, Barcelona, Spain], only one axis of a CCD (charge coupled device) array detector (the spatial axis) provides real imagery data, while a second (spectral) axis is used for sampling the intensity of the light which is dispersed by the grating as function of wavelength. The system also has a slit in a first focal plane, limiting the field of view at any given time to a line of pixels. Therefore, a full image can only be obtained after scanning the grating or the incoming beam in a direction parallel to the spectral axis of the CCD in a method known in the literature as line scanning. The inability to visualize the two-dimensional image before the whole measurement is completed makes it impossible to choose, prior to making a measurement, a desired region of interest from within the field of view and/or to optimize the system focus, exposure time, etc. Grating based spectral imagers are popular in use for remote sensing applications, because an airplane (or satellite) flying over the surface of the Earth provides the system with a natural line scanning mechanism.
It should be further noted that slit-type imaging spectrometers have a major disadvantage since most of the pixels of one frame are not measured at any given time, even though the fore- optics of the instrument actually collects incident light from all of them simultaneously. The result is that either a relatively large measurement time is required to obtain the necessary information with a given signal-to-noise ratio, or the signal-to-noise ratio (sensitivity) is substantially reduced for a given measurement time. Furthermore, slit-type spectral imagers require line scanning to collect the necessary information for the whole scene, which may introduce inaccuracies to the results thus obtained.
Filter based spectral dispersion methods can be further categorized into discrete filters and tunable filters. In these types of imaging spectrometers the spectral image is built by filtering the radiation for all the pixels of the scene simultaneously at a different wavelength at a time by inserting in succession narrow band filters in the optical path, or by electronically scanning the bands using AOTF or LCTF (see below).
Similarly to the slit type imaging spectrometers equipped with a grating, as described above, while using filter based spectral dispersion methods, most of the radiation is rejected at any given time. In fact, the measurement of the whole image at a specific wavelength is possible because all the photons outside the instantaneous wavelength measured are rejected and do not reach the CCD.
Tunable filters, such as acousto-optic tunable filters (AOTFs) and liquid- crystal tunable filter (LCTFs) have no moving parts and can be tuned to any particular wavelength in the spectral range of the device in which they are implemented. One advantage of using tunable filters as a dispersion method for spectral imaging is their random wavelength access; i.e., the ability to measure the intensity of an image at a number of wavelengths, in any desired sequence without the use of a mechanical filter wheel. However, AOTFs and LCTFs have the disadvantages of (i) limited spectral range (typically, &lgr;
max
=2&lgr;
min
) while all other radiation that falls outside of this spectral range must be blocked, (ii) temperature sensitivity, (iii) poor transmission, (iv) polarization sensitivity, and (v) in the case of AOTFs an effect of shifting the image during wavelength scanning.
All these types of filter and tunable filter based systems have not been used successfully and extensively over the years in spectral imaging for any application, because of their limitations in spectral resolution, low sensitivity, and lack of easy-to-use and sophisticated software algorithms for interpretation and display of the data.
No literature has been found by the inventors of the present invention describing high resolution spectroscopy combined with high resolution imaging applied to the eye.
A method and apparatus for spectral analysis of images which have advantages in the above respects
Adel Michael
Buckwald Robert A.
Cabib Dario
Applied Spectral Imaging Ltd.
Manuel George
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