The invention provides both systems and kits for medical imaging of nerves in the head and neck of a subject.

A method performed by a multispectral or hyperspectral meibomian gland imaging device is disclosed, which comprises directing light having visible and infrared spectra from a broadband illuminator toward an everted eyelid; forming images of the everted eyelid using an imaging system; recording the images using a detection system, which separates the images into spectral channels, which include at least one visible spectral channel and at least one infrared spectral channel; displaying the recorded images to adjust the position of the subject to optimize image quality; digitally processing the recorded images to obtain spatial and spectral information; evaluating the health of at least one meibomian gland of the eyelid by analyzing the information. Also disclosed is a multispectral or hyperspectral meibomian gland imaging device, comprising a broadband illuminator directing light that covers visible and infrared spectra; an imaging system, and a detection system.

An apparatus comprises a shaft, an expandable dilator, and at least one ventilation pathway. The shaft defines a longitudinal axis and comprises a distal and proximal ends with at least one shaft lumen. The expandable dilator comprises body with its own proximal and distal ends. The body is configured to transition between a contracted state and an expanded state. The body is configured to dilate a Eustachian tube of a patient in the expanded state. The at least one ventilation pathway is configured to provide ventilation from the distal end of the body to the proximal end of the body when the body is in the expanded state. In some examples, the ventilation pathway comprises a set of transversely oriented vent openings formed through the shaft. In some other examples, the ventilation pathway comprises a space defined between one or more radially outwardly protruding features of the expandable dilator.

Provided is a configuration capable of executing a detection test for a comfort level including the quality of sleep, which is measurable at home without requiring the measurement of brain waves or electrocardiogram. The respiratory waveform of a subject during sleep is continuously measured and recorded from the respiratory gas flow, etc., and is window-Fourier transformed at each measurement time to generate a frequency spectrum, and a bandwidth including a respiratory frequency is extracted. The index indicating the regularity of the respiratory period of the subject is also calculated at each time point during the sleep, and the time-dependency of this index during the sleep is represented as a graph. A medical device includes a sleep evaluation system equipped with a control means for performing control so that a sleep cycle repeated at a cycle of about 90 minutes is clearly observed if the comfort level including the quality of sleep of the subject is favorable.

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods of detecting disease, methods of treating disease using targeted hyperthermia, methods of treating disease using targeted chemical agents, methods of treating disease comprising accurate measurements of the efficacy of treatments. The effect of nanoparticles on magnetic fields can be used to determine the location of a disease, and a measure of the number of cells characteristic of the disease. This location and measure can be used to guide therapy, and provide information regarding the most effective therapy to be applied. The same nanoparticles can be used to facilitate hyperthermia treatments, and to allow targeted application of chemical therapeutic agents.

A monitoring apparatus includes a housing that is configured to be attached to a body of a subject. The housing includes a sensor region that is configured to contact a selected area of the body of the subject when the housing is attached to the body of the subject. The sensor region is contoured to matingly engage the selected body area. The apparatus includes at least one physiological sensor that is associated with the sensor region and that detects and/or measures physiological information from the subject and/or at least one environmental sensor associated with the sensor region that is configured to detect and/or measure environmental information. The sensor region contour stabilizes the physiological and/or environmental sensor(s) relative to the selected body area such that subject motion does not impact detection and/or measurement efforts of the sensor(s).

The present invention relates to methods for use in the selective disruption of lipid-rich cells by controlled cooling. The present invention further relates to a device for use in carrying out the methods for selective disruption of lipid-rich cells by controlled cooling.

A wearable device includes a housing with a window and an electronic module supported by the housing. The electronic module includes a photoplethysmography sensor, a motion sensor, and a signal processor that processes signals from the motion sensor and signals from the photoplethysmography sensor. The signal processor is configured to remove frequency bands from the photoplethysmography sensor signals that are outside of a range of interest using a band-pass filter to produce pre-conditioned signals, and to further process the pre-conditioned signals using the motion sensor signals to reduce motion artifacts from footsteps during subject running. The device includes non-air light transmissive material in optical communication with the photoplethysmography sensor and the window that serves as a light guide for the photoplethysmography sensor. The window optically exposes the photoplethysmography sensor to a body of a subject wearing the device via the non-air light transmissive material.

A surgical instrument navigation system is provided that visually simulates a virtual volumetric scene of a body cavity of a patient from a point of view of a surgical instrument residing in the cavity of the patient. The surgical instrument navigation system includes: a surgical instrument; an imaging device which is operable to capture scan data representative of an internal region of interest within a given patient; a tracking subsystem that employs electro-magnetic sensing to capture in real-time position data indicative of the position of the surgical instrument; a data processor which is operable to render a volumetric, perspective image of the internal region of interest from a point of view of the surgical instrument; and a display which is operable to display the volumetric perspective image of the patient.

The present invention aims at providing a novel indocyanine compound solving problems of conventionally used indocyanine green, such as solubility in water or physiological saline, a synthesis method and a purification method thereof, and a diagnostic composition including the novel indocyanine compound. Further, provided are a method for evaluating biokinetics of the novel indocyanine compound and a device for measuring biokinetics, and a method and a device for visualizing circulation of fluid such as blood in a living body, which utilize the diagnostic composition. Also, found are a novel indocyanine compound in which a hydrophobic moiety in a near-infrared fluorescent indocyanine molecule is included in a cavity of a cyclic sugar chain cyclodextrin to cover the hydrophobic moiety in the indocyanine molecule with the glucose, and a synthesis method and a purification method thereof. Furthermore, found are a method for fluorescence-imaging an organ other than liver by intravenous administration, a method for evaluating biokinetics of the novel indocyanine compound, a device for measuring biokinetics, and a method and a device for visualizing circulation of fluid such as blood in a living body, utilizing the diagnostic composition including the novel indocyanine compound.