US 12,310,556 B2
Imaging system and method
Kevin Dhaliwal, Edinburgh (GB); Michael G. Tanner, Edinburgh (GB); and Robert R. Thomson, Edinburgh (GB)
Assigned to The University Court of the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (GB)
Appl. No. 16/960,856
Filed by The University Court of the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (GB)
PCT Filed Jan. 9, 2019, PCT No. PCT/GB2019/050051
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jul. 8, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/138220, PCT Pub. Date Jul. 18, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 1800340 (GB), filed on Jan. 9, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0063722 A1, Mar. 4, 2021
Int. Cl. A61B 1/00 (2006.01); A61B 1/06 (2006.01); A61B 1/07 (2006.01); G02B 23/24 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 1/00165 (2013.01) [A61B 1/06 (2013.01); A61B 1/07 (2013.01); G02B 23/2469 (2013.01)] 23 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising:
a medical device configured to be positioned at least partially within a scattering medium that forms at least a part of a body of a human or animal subject, the medical device comprising at least one optical fibre or other waveguide having a plurality of light-emitting regions arranged along at least part of the length of the at least one optical fibre or other waveguide;
a pulsed light source configured to transmit pulsed light into a proximal end of the at least one optical fibre or other waveguide, such that the pulsed light is guided along the at least one optical fibre or other waveguide to the light-emitting regions and emitted by the light-emitting regions outwards from the medical device and into the scattering medium that forms at least part of the body of the human or animal subject;
at least one single-photon detector configured to receive photons of the pulsed light that have passed through the scattering medium and generate an electrical signal corresponding to each received photon, wherein the generated electrical signals comprise electrical signals corresponding to received ballistic and scattered photons; and
a processor configured to:
select signals corresponding to at least some of the received photons based on at least a time of arrival of the received photons at the at least one single-photon detector, wherein the time of arrival of each photon comprises a difference between a time at which the photon was received at the at least one single-photon detector and a time at which a pulse of light was emitted by the pulsed light source, wherein the selecting of the signals comprises selecting signals having a time of arrival within a time interval;
determine a respective location of each of the light-emitting regions based on the selected signals; and
determine a path of at least part of the medical device based on the determined locations, wherein the determining of the location of each of the light-emitting regions based on the selected signals comprises forming at least one image using the selected signals, and determining the location of each of the light-emitting regions based on the at least one image.