Patent US3959781A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6026323A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Tissue diagnostic system
Assignee: Polartechnics Ltd
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Filing: 1997-09-23
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Granted: 2000-02-15
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Expires: 2017-09-23
Abstract
Abstract A probe type instrument to characterize tissue type that combines optical and electrical tests in a single device capable of providing data of both types almost simultaneously from very small, e.g. 3-10 mm diameter, areas of tissue surface. Key to this approach is an instrument capable of making almost simultaneous electrical and optical measurements on the same small areas of tissue, before being moved to scan adjacent tissue areas. In the preferred operation of the system fourteen measurement cycles are performed per second and each measurement involves a complex sequence of events, including (1) three optical and fifteen electrical tissue stimulations with subsequent detection, filtering and digitization of the tissue response; (2) extraction of specific parameters from the optical and electrical signals; (3) checking for errors, and subsequent classification of the extracted parameters into various tissue type categories; and (4) feedback to the system operator. Thus on the order of 15,000 measurements are made per one minute patient examination.
Inventors
- 👤 Victor Skladnev
- 👤 Richard Thompson
- 👤 Irwin Wunderman
- 👤 David Bull
- 👤 Neil Edwards
- 👤 Stephen Rowe
- 👤 Gregory Smart
- 👤 Megan Smith
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 12:16
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/05; A61B5/053; A61B5/0538; A61B5/0059; A61B5/0082; A61B5/0084; A61B5/43; A61B5/4306; A61B5/4318; A61B5/4331; A61B5/72; A61B5/7235; A61B5/7264; A61B2562/00; A61B2562/08; A61B2562/085; A61B5/0088; A61B5/44; A61B5/441; A61B5/7203; G; G16; G16H; G16H50/00; G16H50/20
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 49
Claim 1
Independent Claim
180 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein the parameters in said parameter group are not associated on a one-to-one basis with the sequential current pulses in said current pulse group.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
180 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein the parameters in said parameter group are not associated on a one-to-one basis with the sequential current pulses in said current pulse group.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
40 words
An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein successive groups of sequential current pulses are separated in time from each other by a time interval substantially greater than the time interval between the sequential current pulses within an individual group.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
309 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein, for any current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, multiple measurements of the tissue potential are taken during decay of the potential following application of the current pulse, wherein at least two parameter values are derived during the potential decay following each current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, wherein each of said at least two parameter values is derived from several of the multiple measurements taken during decay of the current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, wherein said processor categorizes any tissue surface area in accordance with at least two parameter values derived during the potential decay following each of at least two current pulses, and wherein said at least two current pulses are separated by at least one other current pulse the tissue response to which is not used by said processor to categorize the tissue to which said current pulses are applied.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
309 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein, for any current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, multiple measurements of the tissue potential are taken during decay of the potential following application of the current pulse, wherein at least two parameter values are derived during the potential decay following each current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, wherein each of said at least two parameter values is derived from several of the multiple measurements taken during decay of the current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, wherein said processor categorizes any tissue surface area in accordance with at least two parameter values derived during the potential decay following each of at least two current pulses, and wherein said at least two current pulses are separated by at least one other current pulse the tissue response to which is not used by said processor to categorize the tissue to which said current pulses are applied.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
289 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein, for any current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, multiple measurements of the tissue potential are taken during decay of the potential following application of the current pulse, wherein at least two parameter values are derived during the potential decay following each current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, and wherein said probe tip has at least three electrodes for applying current pulses to a selected tissue surface area with non-overlapping current pulses flowing between different groups of said electrodes, corresponding current pulse application and measurement cycles occurring for different groups of said electrodes, and corresponding ones of the at least two parameter values derived following the current pulses for different groups of said electrodes being combined for the categorization of said tissue surface area by said processor.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
289 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein, for any current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, multiple measurements of the tissue potential are taken during decay of the potential following application of the current pulse, wherein at least two parameter values are derived during the potential decay following each current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, and wherein said probe tip has at least three electrodes for applying current pulses to a selected tissue surface area with non-overlapping current pulses flowing between different groups of said electrodes, corresponding current pulse application and measurement cycles occurring for different groups of said electrodes, and corresponding ones of the at least two parameter values derived following the current pulses for different groups of said electrodes being combined for the categorization of said tissue surface area by said processor.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
44 words
An apparatus in accordance with claim 4 wherein categorization of a tissue surface area by said processor is deemed unreliable if the difference between any two corresponding parameter values derived following the current pulses for different groups of said electrodes exceeds a threshold value.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
283 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein, for any current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, multiple measurements of the tissue potential are taken during decay of the potential following application of the current pulse, wherein at least two parameter values are derived during the potential decay following each current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, and wherein said probe tip has at least three electrodes for applying current pulses to a selected tissue surface area with non-overlapping current pulses flowing between different groups of said electrodes, corresponding current pulse application and measurement cycles occurring for different groups of said electrodes, and said electrodes are connected in sequential groups to apply sequential current pulses to a selected tissue surface area such that electrode degradation by electrochemical effects is minimized.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
283 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein, for any current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, multiple measurements of the tissue potential are taken during decay of the potential following application of the current pulse, wherein at least two parameter values are derived during the potential decay following each current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, and wherein said probe tip has at least three electrodes for applying current pulses to a selected tissue surface area with non-overlapping current pulses flowing between different groups of said electrodes, corresponding current pulse application and measurement cycles occurring for different groups of said electrodes, and said electrodes are connected in sequential groups to apply sequential current pulses to a selected tissue surface area such that electrode degradation by electrochemical effects is minimized.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
194 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said probe tip having electromagnetic radiation transmitting components to perform optical measurements on the selected tissue surface area, and multiple interspersed optical and electrical measurements are performed on the same tissue surface area selected by said probe.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
194 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said probe tip having electromagnetic radiation transmitting components to perform optical measurements on the selected tissue surface area, and multiple interspersed optical and electrical measurements are performed on the same tissue surface area selected by said probe.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
202 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein the charge dissipation in the tissue volume underneath a selected tissue surface area is not complete by the time the next sequential current pulse is applied so that the categorizations of selected tissue surface areas are functions of the particular order of the electrical measurements.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
202 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein the charge dissipation in the tissue volume underneath a selected tissue surface area is not complete by the time the next sequential current pulse is applied so that the categorizations of selected tissue surface areas are functions of the particular order of the electrical measurements.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
55 words
An apparatus in accordance with claim 8 wherein successive groups of sequential current pulses are separated in time from each other by a time interval substantially greater than the time interval between sequential current pulses within an individual group so that the categorizations of successive selected tissue surface areas are substantially independent of each other.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
201 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein the charge dissipation in the tissue volume underneath a selected tissue surface area is not complete by the time the next sequential current pulse is applied so that the categorizations of selected tissue surface areas are functions of the timings between sequential current pulses.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
201 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein the charge dissipation in the tissue volume underneath a selected tissue surface area is not complete by the time the next sequential current pulse is applied so that the categorizations of selected tissue surface areas are functions of the timings between sequential current pulses.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
226 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said circuit for deriving said group of parameter values performs measurements on a selected tissue surface area by using a low-impedance probe whose influence on the decay of the potential in the underlying tissue volume following application of a current pulse is sufficiently great that valid categorization of a selected tissue surface area requires use of a comparable probe during the prior derivation of said catalog of tissue types.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
226 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said circuit for deriving said group of parameter values performs measurements on a selected tissue surface area by using a low-impedance probe whose influence on the decay of the potential in the underlying tissue volume following application of a current pulse is sufficiently great that valid categorization of a selected tissue surface area requires use of a comparable probe during the prior derivation of said catalog of tissue types.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
220 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said probe tip further having optically coupled to it at least one light-emitting diode and a detector for detecting the light scattered back from the selected tissue surface area, the apparatus further comprising a circuit for measuring the bandgap potential of the light-emitting diode and adjusting accordingly the gain of the amplifier handling the signal from said detector to compensate for temperature fluctuations.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
220 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said probe tip further having optically coupled to it at least one light-emitting diode and a detector for detecting the light scattered back from the selected tissue surface area, the apparatus further comprising a circuit for measuring the bandgap potential of the light-emitting diode and adjusting accordingly the gain of the amplifier handling the signal from said detector to compensate for temperature fluctuations.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
50 words
An apparatus in accordance with claim 12 wherein multiple interspersed optical and electrical measurements are performed on the same tissue surface area selected by said probe, and the bandgap potential of said at least one light-emitting diode is measured during the course of deriving values for said group of parameters.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
68 words
An apparatus in accordance with claim 13 wherein said probe tip has at least three electrodes for applying current pulses to a selected tissue surface area with non-overlapping current pulses flowing between different groups of said electrodes, corresponding current pulse application and measurement cycles occurring for different groups of said electrodes, and all of said electrodes are connected together electrically during the intervals between said sequential current pulses.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
219 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said probe tip further having optically coupled to it at least one light-emitting diode and a detector for detecting the light scattered back from the selected tissue surface area, the apparatus further comprising a circuit for measuring the bandgap potential of the light-emitting diode and adjusting accordingly the magnitude of the current pulses fed to the LED to compensate for temperature fluctuations.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
219 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said probe tip further having optically coupled to it at least one light-emitting diode and a detector for detecting the light scattered back from the selected tissue surface area, the apparatus further comprising a circuit for measuring the bandgap potential of the light-emitting diode and adjusting accordingly the magnitude of the current pulses fed to the LED to compensate for temperature fluctuations.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
240 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said probe tip further having optically coupled to it at least one light-emitting diode, and a detector present at the probe tip for detecting the light scattered back from the selected tissue surface area, and wherein said detector receives light directly from said light-emitting diode and provides a signal proportional to the light output from said LED, and said apparatus further comprises an amplifier whose gain is changed in response to said signal to compensate for changes in the efficiency of said LED.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
240 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said probe tip further having optically coupled to it at least one light-emitting diode, and a detector present at the probe tip for detecting the light scattered back from the selected tissue surface area, and wherein said detector receives light directly from said light-emitting diode and provides a signal proportional to the light output from said LED, and said apparatus further comprises an amplifier whose gain is changed in response to said signal to compensate for changes in the efficiency of said LED.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
237 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said probe tip further having optically coupled to it at least one light-emitting diode, and a detector present at the probe tip for detecting the light scattered back from the selected tissue surface area, and wherein said detector receives light directly from said light-emitting diode and provides a signal proportional to the light output from said LED, and said apparatus further comprises means to change the magnitude of a current pulse fed to said LED in response to said signal.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
237 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said probe tip further having optically coupled to it at least one light-emitting diode, and a detector present at the probe tip for detecting the light scattered back from the selected tissue surface area, and wherein said detector receives light directly from said light-emitting diode and provides a signal proportional to the light output from said LED, and said apparatus further comprises means to change the magnitude of a current pulse fed to said LED in response to said signal.
Claim 30
Independent Claim
201 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as piecewise linear functions of a second parameter and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality, said transformed parameter comprising an integral of a portion of said parameter values for preselected time intervals and said second parameter comprises time.
Claim 31
Independent Claim
201 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as piecewise linear functions of a second parameter and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality, said transformed parameter comprising an integral of a portion of said parameter values for preselected time intervals and said second parameter comprises time.
Claim 32
Independent Claim
197 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as piecewise linear functions of a second parameter and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality, said transformed parameter comprising the slope and intercept of the log voltage and said second parameter comprises inverse time.
Claim 33
Independent Claim
197 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as piecewise linear functions of a second parameter and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality, said transformed parameter comprising the slope and intercept of the log voltage and said second parameter comprises inverse time.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
197 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as piecewise linear functions of a second parameter and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality, said transformed parameter comprising the slope and intercept of the log voltage and said second parameter comprising log time.
Claim 35
Independent Claim
197 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as piecewise linear functions of a second parameter and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality, said transformed parameter comprising the slope and intercept of the log voltage and said second parameter comprising log time.
Claim 36
Independent Claim
209 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as piecewise linear functions of a second parameter and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality, said transformed parameter comprising arithmetic transformation of the parameter to diminish a predetermined obscuration effect of some artifact of, or noise source within the system and said second parameter comprising time.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
209 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as piecewise linear functions of a second parameter and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality, said transformed parameter comprising arithmetic transformation of the parameter to diminish a predetermined obscuration effect of some artifact of, or noise source within the system and said second parameter comprising time.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
196 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as piecewise linear functions of a second parameter and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality, said transformed parameter comprising voltage at the start of the relaxation curve and said second parameter comprising current.
Claim 39
Independent Claim
196 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as piecewise linear functions of a second parameter and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality, said transformed parameter comprising voltage at the start of the relaxation curve and said second parameter comprising current.
Claim 40
Independent Claim
177 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed parameters of the inrush current as piecewise linear functions of parameters of a relaxation curve.
Claim 41
Independent Claim
177 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed parameters of the inrush current as piecewise linear functions of parameters of a relaxation curve.
Claim 42
Independent Claim
178 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as integrals of parameter values over voltage intervals and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality.
Claim 43
Independent Claim
178 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as integrals of parameter values over voltage intervals and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality.
Claim 44
Independent Claim
178 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as integrals of parameter values over current intervals and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality.
Claim 45
Independent Claim
178 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as integrals of parameter values over current intervals and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality.
Claim 46
Independent Claim
177 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as magnitudes of offsets of parameter values and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality.
Claim 47
Independent Claim
177 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein said parameter values are transformed as magnitudes of offsets of parameter values and associated with a degree of tissue abnormality.
Claim 48
Independent Claim
251 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein, for any current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, multiple measurements of the tissue potential are taken during decay of the potential following application of the current pulse, wherein at least two parameter values are derived during the potential decay following each current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, and wherein said probe tip has at least two electrodes for applying current pulses to a selected tissue surface area and the polarity of said electrodes are reversed from time to time such that electrode degradation by electrochemical effects is reduced.
Claim 49
Independent Claim
251 words
An apparatus for categorizing biological tissue whose surface area is selected by contact comprising: a probe tip having an end surface that contacts said tissue surface area, a potential source for applying a group of sequential current pulses from said probe tip to each of successively selected tissue surface areas, the sequential pulses within each group occurring at a rate fast enough so that they are applied to substantially the same tissue surface area, a circuit for deriving values for a group of parameters indicative of the response to the group of sequential current pulses applied to each selected tissue surface area, a memory adapted to store a catalog of tissue types associated with respective subsets of groups of parameter values, and a processor for comparing the group of parameter values indicative of the response of a selected tissue surface area with the stored subsets of groups of parameter values to categorize said tissue surface area, wherein, for any current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, multiple measurements of the tissue potential are taken during decay of the potential following application of the current pulse, wherein at least two parameter values are derived during the potential decay following each current pulse for which a tissue response is desired, and wherein said probe tip has at least two electrodes for applying current pulses to a selected tissue surface area and the polarity of said electrodes are reversed from time to time such that electrode degradation by electrochemical effects is reduced.
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