US 12,402,793 B2
Near-infrared imaging system for identifying a target feature in an object
Patrick Beldon, Sedgefield (GB); and Paul Macey, Sedgefield (GB)
Assigned to Cortirio Limited, Sedgefield (GB)
Appl. No. 18/275,717
Filed by CORTIRIO LIMITED, Sedgefield (GB)
PCT Filed Feb. 3, 2022, PCT No. PCT/GB2022/050283
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 3, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/167801, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 11, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2101565 (GB), filed on Feb. 4, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0081651 A1, Mar. 14, 2024
Int. Cl. A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 8/08 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 5/0075 (2013.01) [A61B 5/0073 (2013.01); A61B 8/085 (2013.01)] 25 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A near-infrared imaging system for identifying a target feature in an object, said system comprising:
a near-infrared transmitter receiver array for transmitting near-infrared radiation into the object and receiving corresponding near-infrared radiation emitted from the object, wherein the near-infrared transmitter receiver array is an optode array comprising a plurality of optodes each having a distal end arranged to make contact with a surface of the object; and
a data processing system configured to process near-infrared radiation received via the near-infrared transmitter receiver array in accordance with a near-infrared imaging model to identify the presence or absence of the target feature within the object, wherein the system further comprises:
signal transmitting means arranged to transmit one or more further signals into the object via one or more optodes of the optode array, wherein the one or more further signals comprise ultrasound signals and/or electrical signals; and
signal receiving means arranged to receive the one or more further signals from the object via one or more optodes of the optode array, and wherein
the data processing system is further configured to process one or more characteristics of the one or more further signals received by the signal receiving means to determine a material composition of the object between a contact point of an optode via which the signal was transmitted and a contact point of an optode via which the signal was received, and to generate one or more corresponding constraints to apply to the near-infrared imaging model.