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.

To solve the problem of differentiating veins from lymphatics in MRI images, among other uses, the disclosed embodiments relate to compositions, kits, systems, and methods that include an MRI contrast agent and an MRI suppression agent that is also a blood pool agent. Using appropriate MRI techniques, the MRI suppression agent will suppress signal in its location, while signal enhanced by the MRI contrast agent in other locations will not be suppressed. The result is a clarified MRI image with only non-vascular regions enhanced.

An imaging system for acquisition of NIR and full-color images includes a light source providing visible light and NIR light to an area under observation, such as living tissue, a camera having one or more image sensors configured to separately detect blue reflectance light, green reflectance light, and combined red reflectance light/detected NIR light returned from the area under observation. A controller in signal communication with the light source and the camera is configured to control the light source to continuously illuminate area under observation with temporally continuous blue/green illumination light and with red illumination light and NIR excitation light. At least one of the red illumination light and NIR excitation light are switched on and off periodically in synchronism with the acquisition of red and NIR light images in the camera.

The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for delivering and/or receiving a substance or substances such as blood, from subjects, e.g., from the skin and/or from other tissues of the body. In some cases, the device may contain a substance transfer component such as needles or microneedles, which can be inserted into the skin or another organ to deliver and/or receiving fluid or other substances from the subject. In some embodiments, the device may include an activator constructed and arranged to insert one or more substance transfer components into the skin or other organ. In certain cases, the device may also include a storage chamber for receiving a fluid received from the subject.

In one aspect, the present invention relates to a process for intra-operatively providing anatomical guidance in endocrine surgery. In one embodiment, the process includes the steps of illuminating tissues in the neck area of a living subject with a beam of light having a predetermined wavelength, obtaining Raman data from light scattered from the illuminated tissues, finding Raman signatures corresponding to thyroid or parathyroid tissues from the obtained Raman data, and identifying the thyroid or parathyroid tissues from the corresponding Raman signatures.

Methods, computer program products, and systems are described that include measuring at least one effect of a combined bioactive agent and artificial sensory experience on an individual and/or modifying at least one of the bioactive agent or the artificial sensory experience at least partially based on the at least one effect.

Disclosed is a method of treating small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) or a SIBO-caused condition in a human subject. SIBO-caused conditions include irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, impaired mentation, impaired memory, halitosis, tinnitus, sugar craving, autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, drug sensitivity, an autoimmune disease, and Crohn's disease. Also disclosed are a method of screening for the abnormally likely presence of SIBO in a human subject and a method of detecting SIBO in a human subject. A method of determining the relative severity of SIBO or a SIBO-caused condition in a human subject, in whom small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) has been detected, is also disclosed.

A phantom calibration body (12) for calibrating diffusion MRI device (16) that mimics a material such as a mammalian tissue is disclosed. The phantom calibration body (12) includes a homogeneous aqueous solution (30) that contains a mixture of low molecular-weight and high molecular-weight polymers housed in a container (14) that is placed in the diffusion MRI device (16) for obtaining one or more diffusion MRI images of the phantom calibration body (12). A measure of diffusivity is calculated for each of the one or more diffusion MRI images in order to calibrate the diffusion MRI device. Methods of using the phantom calibration body (12) to calibrate diffusion MRI device (16) are also disclosed.

Systems and methods for registering, verifying, dynamically referencing, and navigating an anatomical region of interest of a patient are provided. In one embodiment, the anatomical region of interest is imaged using an imaging device such as, for example, an x-ray device. A tracked registration device may then be removably inserted following a path within the anatomical region and the position of the registration device may be sampled by a tracking device as the registration device is moved within the anatomical region through the catheter. The sampled position data is registered to the image data to register the path to the anatomical region of interest. The same or a similar device may be used to dynamically reference the movements affecting the anatomical region and modify the registration in real time. The registration may also be verified.

The present invention has an object to measure lymphatic pressure with more safety and ease at lower cost. To achieve this, a lymphatic pressure-measuring system 1 includes: a manchette 11 fitted on a vital observation portion; a measurement unit 13 that measures and outputs pressure of the manchette 11; an infrared camera 21 that detects fluorescence emitted from fluorescent dye previously injected into a lymph vessel in the vital observation portion; and an image processing device 22 that generates and displays an image showing a position of the fluorescent dye in the lymph vessel based on a detection result of the infrared camera 21. The infrared camera 21 repeats the detection while the pressure of the manchette 11 decreases from first pressure to block a lymph flow in the vital observation portion to second pressure at restart of the lymph flow. The measurement unit 13 repeats the measurement during the period.