The problem is to level a plurality of data items obtained by functional near-infrared spectroscopy at different measurement locations into data having a best S/N ratio in a simple manner. In order to solve the problem, provided is a device 1 comprising a measuring unit 6 in which probes PR1 to PR3 for emitting or detecting light and having optical attenuators 13 are disposed at points forming a regular triangle, and a control unit 2 which: sets the transmittances of all of the optical attenuators 13 so that the amount of emitted light of the probes becomes a desired value; identifies, among three channels to be measured, a first channel having a maximum detected light amount; performs the detection in second and third channels positioned between first and second probes at both ends of the first channel and a third probe; adjusts the transmittance of the optical attenuator 13 of the first or the second probe disposed at one end of the channel having a smaller detected light amount so that the light amounts detected in the second and the third channels become equal; adjusts the transmittance of the optical attenuator 13 of the third probe so that the detected light amount of the second or the third channel becomes equal to the detected light amount of the first channel; and performs the measurement with all of the transmittances after the adjustments maintained.

Example embodiments include devices and systems that detect apnea events of a user. The device includes a first sensor configured beside the head of the user for capturing snoring sounds of the user, a second sensor configured on one finger of the user for capturing cardiovascular parameters of the user, a third sensor configured under the trunk of the user for capturing e breathing movements of the user, a data recorder that is connected with the first sensor, the second sensor and the third sensor for receiving recordings therefrom, and a clock for synchronizing the recordings in real time. The recordings include one or more breathing events including snoring events, heart rate and SPO.sub.2 conjunction spikes, and breathing movement cessations. The time periods that apnea events are impossible can be excluded according to a combination of the breathing events, and the apnea events can be detected thereafter.

Apparatus and methods remove a voltage offset from an electrical signal, specifically a biomedical signal. A signal is received at a first operational amplifier and is amplified by a gain. An amplitude of the signal is monitored, by a first pair of diode stages coupled to an output of the first operational amplifier, for the voltage offset. The amplitude of the signal is then attenuated by the first pair of diode stages and a plurality of timing banks. The attenuating includes limiting charging, by the first pair of diode stages, of the plurality of timing banks and setting a time constant based on the charging. The attenuating removes the voltage offset persisting at a threshold for a duration of at least the time constant. Saturation of the signal is limited to a saturation recovery time while the saturated signal is gradually pulled into monitoring range over the saturation recovery time.

Improved optical coherence tomography systems and methods to measure thickness of the retina are presented. The systems may be compact, handheld, provide in-home monitoring, allow the patient to measure himself or herself, and be robust enough to be dropped while still measuring the retina reliably.

Systems, apparatus, and methods are disclosed for processing biomedical signals. An electrophysiology (EP) system includes a differential circuit to process the biomedical signals; a differential amplifier circuit to amplify an output of the differential circuit; an analog-to-digital converter to digitize an output of the differential amplifier circuit; a communication module to interface between the analog-to-digital converter and a digital processing stage having a plurality of signal modules; and at least one processor to execute the plurality of signal modules, applying digital signal processing to the output from the analog-to-digital converter, to extract features of interest of the biomedical signals.

This invention provides a non-invasive diagnosis system that is not only capable of producing high-resolution, three-dimensional images of abnormalities of tissue growth inside the body but, it can also detect the type of abnormalities and their location using multispectral imaging techniques. It is possible to provide a portable, non-invasive device that is handheld and with which a person may use to screen themselves for early detection of skin cancer without the need to visit a physician. As the present invention uses broadband sources and/or multiple coherent sources, secondary factors such as oxygen metabolism or blood volume associated with the cancer tissues could also be detected to provide further verification of the type. This invention would raise the accuracy of diagnosis and reduce the rate of false positives and false negatives.

A catheter enables real-time light measurements, for example, without limitation, diffuse reflectance, fluorescence, etc., from biological materials, such as tissue (including blood), while performing RF ablation. The catheter tip design isolates illumination and collection paths within the tip electrode such that light for illuminating the tissue of interest (e.g., cardiac tissue or blood) is isolated within the tip electrode from light that returns from the tissue to the catheter tip, and vice versa. Such a design advantageously avoids saturation of the optical detector, and ensures diffusion of the illumination light within the medium of interest. The catheter has a catheter body and a tip electrode with a shell wall and a hollow cavity. The shell wall has at least an illumination opening and a collection opening. The catheter further includes a first fiber optic cable in communication with the illumination opening, and a second fiber optic cable in communication with the hollow cavity, wherein light emitted from the first fiber optic cable exits the tip electrode to reach tissue through the illumination opening in defining a first path and returns to the tip electrode from the tissue into the hollow cavity through the collection opening in defining a second path, the first and second paths being optically isolated from each other within the tip electrode. The invention also includes a method of making an ablation electrode tip defining isolated optical paths with in the tip electrode for light exiting the tip electrode and light returning to the tip electrode.

An electronic system for a surgical instrument is disclosed. The electronic system comprises a main power supply circuit configured to supply electrical power to a primary circuit. A supplementary power supply circuit configured to supply electrical power to a secondary circuit. A short circuit protection circuit coupled between the main power supply circuit and the supplementary power supply circuit. The supplementary power supply circuit is configured to isolate itself from the main power supply circuit when the supplementary power supply circuit detects a short circuit condition at the secondary circuit. The supplementary power supply circuit is configured to rejoin the main power supply circuit and supply power to the secondary circuit, when the short circuit condition is remedied.

An electronic system for a surgical instrument is disclosed. The electronic system comprises a main power supply circuit configured to supply electrical power to a primary circuit. A supplementary power supply circuit configured to supply electrical power to a secondary circuit. A short circuit protection circuit coupled between the main power supply circuit and the supplementary power supply circuit. The supplementary power supply circuit is configured to isolate itself from the main power supply circuit when the supplementary power supply circuit detects a short circuit condition at the secondary circuit. The supplementary power supply circuit is configured to rejoin the main power supply circuit and supply power to the secondary circuit, when the short circuit condition is remedied.

Systems, methods, and computer program product embodiments are disclosed for performing electrophysiology (EP) signal processing. An embodiment includes an electrocardiogram (ECG) circuit board configured to process an ECG signal. The embodiment further includes a plurality of intracardiac (IC) circuit boards, each configured to process a corresponding IC signal. The ECG circuit board and the plurality of IC circuit boards share substantially a same circuit configuration and components. The ECG circuit board further processes the ECG signal using substantially a same path as each IC circuit board uses to process its corresponding IC signal.