METHOD, SYSTEM, SOFTWARE, AND DEVICE FOR REMOTE, MIIATURIZED, AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING AND ANALYSIS OF HUMAN LESIONS RESEARCH AND CLINICAL APPLICATIONS THEREOF

Abstract

A system, device, and accompanying software for the remote, three-dimensional, and high-throughput imaging and analysis of human lesions, across a range of wavelengths, lens radii and imaging sensors. This system, device, and software generates and analyses of tumor images at infrared wavelengths through the use of miniaturized, liquid lenses. It has a number of clinical, diagnostic, research, and other imaging applications, including the remote, three-dimensional, and high-throughput imaging and analysis of human cancer tumors.

Claims

1. A system and device for the imaging and analysis of human lesions, comprised of: a) an illumination component emitting light with a specific wavelength; b) an imaging sensor; c) a tunable lens; d) an enclosure housing the tunable lens, illumination component, and the imaging sensor, and; e) image processing and analysis software.

2. The device according to claim 1, where the wavelength illumination component is infrared.

3. The device according to claim 1, where the wavelength illumination component is ultraviolet.

4. The device according to claim 1, where the wavelength emitted by the illumination component is visible.

5. The device according to claim 1, where the tunable lens used is twenty milliliters in diameter.

6. The device according to claim 1, where the tunable lens used is two to fifteen millimeters in diameter.

7. The device according to claim 1, where the tunable lens used is less than two millimeters in diameter.

8. The device according to claim 1, where the tunable lens, illumination component, and sensor are housed in an enclosure encircled by a plastic balloon that can be inflated or deflated, and increased or decreased in size, through the application of air pressure.

9. The device according to claim 1, where a driver accompanying the tunable lens controls the effective focus of the tunable lens, enabling the imaging sensor to capture lesion images across a range of focus settings.

10. The enclosure according to claim 8, for protecting all optical and electronic components of the device according to claim 1 from the outside environment.

11. The device according to claim 1, where the device is used to take all-focus, three dimensional snapshots of external lesions on the human body.

12. The device according to claim 11, where the external lesions include skin, cervical, mouth, throat, and anal cancers.

13. The device according to claim 11, where the external lesions include infected wounds and traumatic injury wounds.

14. The device according to claim 11, as applied to resource-scarce regions of the world.

15. The device according to claim 1, where the lens used consists of a fiber-optic bundle with a smaller, miniature, tunable lens attached to the tip.

16. The device according to claim 15, where the fiber-optic bundle/tunable lens unit is bendable.

17. The device according to claim 1, where the device is used to image and analyze human lesions located in confined spaces.

18. The device according to claim 17, where the lesions are located in the ear canal or are accessed via the arterial canal.

19. The device according to claim 1, where the tunable lens is a liquid lensa transparent, flexible substrate encompassing liquid.

20. The device according to claim 19, where the tunable lens can traverse through the interior of the patient's body through the use of an external control.

21. The device according to claim 20, where the external control can be assumed remotely from anywhere in the world.

22. The device according to claim 1, where the device transmits lesion imaging data to remote software users worldwide.

23. The device according to claim 1, where the software resolves and analyzes the resulting image.

24. The device according to claim 1, where the device utilizes spectroscopic imaging.

25. The device according to claim 1, where the device utilizes polarization imaging.

26. The device according to claim 25, where polarization imaging is achieved by inserting standard polarization optics in the device's outgoing or incoming light path.

27. The device according to claim 1, where the device is used to take three-dimensional images of lesions throughout the human body.

28. The device according to claim 27, where these lesions include early-stage cancers.

29. The device according to claim 27, where the device transmits lesion imaging data to remote software users worldwide, and where the device incorporates virtual navigation capabilities.

30. The device according to claim 1, where the software is operated through the execution of a Maximum-Local-Derivative (MLD) algorithm.

31. The device and software according to claim 1 or 30, where the MLD algorithm combines a sequence of generated lesion images, taken at a range of focus settings, into a single, all-focus image.

32. The device and software according to claim 1 or 30, where the software extracts depth information about the target lesion surface by evaluating sharpness of focus at different points in the image and for different focus settings.

Description

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The disclosure comprises a device and accompanying software for the three-dimensional imaging and analysis of human lesions. The device consists of an imaging lens that facilitates the transmission of emitted light across a range of wavelengths, a means of communicating the resulting images remotely, and accompanying software to resolve and analyze those images. In its preferred embodiment, the present disclosure's device is miniaturized, facilitates the transmission of emitted infrared light, and transmits the resulting images for remote analysis by the accompanying software. The disclosure may be applied to a number of clinical, research, and other oncological uses, including to generate and resolve images of early-stage, internal human cancers.

[0019] In some instances, the disclosure is used for the imaging of invasive tumors such as those in the inner ear or accessible via the artery. For these uses, a fiber bundle dynamic focusing lens assembly integrates a dual-layer-encased fiber bundle coupled with a fluidic focusing lens (FFL) and a conventional digital camera for generating endoscopic, all-focus, three-dimensional tumor images. Here, the diameter of the endoscope unit ranges from two to fifteen millimeters, and the camera component is attached externally. The FFL, which is capable of variable focusing in different instances, consists of a bendable membrane suspended by two washers over the front of the fiber bundle. The focal length of the FFL is controlled by fluid pressure on the lens membrane. As displayed in attached FIG. 2, the pressurized fluid is delivered via the spacing between the fiber bundle protecting sheet and the endoscope cover layer. As the fluid pressure is adjusted, multiple focal lengths are achieved, and the camera captures a snapshot at each setting. The resulting tumor image transmits through the FFL onto the fiber bundle front surface, and finally into the external camera where a variety of imaging and spectral techniques may be enabled. such as standard optical imaging, dual-narrowband imaging, spectroscopy, or multi-wavelength imaging from infrared through ultraviolet. Additional optical functionalities, such as wide-field or zoomed-in imaging, may be achieved by attaching optics to the front of the FFL.

[0020] In some instances, the FFL assembly may be coupled with various types of software for rendering and analysis of collected images and for the remote transmission of those images to users worldwide. FIGS. 1-2, attached, diagram an embodiment of the present disclosure that uses a miniaturized camera that uses infrared light to capture infrared three-dimensional images of early-stage tumors. The camera can be operated remotely and transmit the resulting images anywhere in the world.

[0021] FIG. 3 diagrams a surface view of the fiber bundle dynamic focusing lens. The figure designates the lens membrane and the fiber-optic bundles for image capture and illumination.

[0022] FIG. 4 diagrams a longitudinal cross-section top view of the fiber bundle dynamic focusing lens. The figure designates the lens membrane, the liquid outside the fiber bundle unit that connects to the space below the membrane, and the fiber-optic bundles for image capture and illumination.

[0023] FIG. 5 diagrams a longitudinal cross-section bottom view of the fiber bundle dynamic focusing lens. This figure also designates the lens membrane, the liquid outside the fiber bundle unit that connects to the space below the membrane, and the fiber-optic bundles for image capture and illumination.

[0024] In some instances, the disclosure is used to image and analyze external human tumors, including tumors of the skin and cervix. FIG. 6 diagrams this embodiment, using the same fiber optic bundle lens assembly described in FIGS. 1-5, only insider a larger enclosure. The enclosure is an inflatable, plastic balloon which can be increased or decreased in size through the application of air pressure.

[0025] In some instances, software that is part of the disclosure and coupled to the disclosure's device renders and analyzes the images collected. The software carries out the task by implementing a version of a Maximum-Local-Derivative (MLD) algorithm that has previously been successfully used to extract sharpness information for large-scale data sets collected with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The code begins by reading in a set of images, where each frame was collected with a unique focus setting and within a fraction of a second from each other. Evaluating the sharpness of focus, it remaps individual image parts onto a single array, thus combining the image set to produce a single, sharp, all-focus image.

[0026] FIG. 6 also diagrams a conceptual design of the embodied enclosure described in Paragraph 0035, above, for imaging of lesions in the human cervix. The cross sections displayed in FIG. 6 include an inflatable balloon, manual control air pumps, an external camera module, and tubes connecting the various components to one another.

[0027] FIG. 7 diagrams an embodiment based on the model diagramed in FIG. 6, consisting of an 18186 mm tunable liquid lens aligned with an endoscope 10 mm in diameter using a 3D printed enclosure. The liquid lens is similar to the embodiments described in FIGS. 1-5, is electrically tunable, and includes two transparent liquids, such as water and oil, that are placed between two electrodes. An electric field is applied on the electrodes to change the shape of the hydrophobic liquid droplet included within, which in turn changes the focusing point of the lens. In this embodiment, the lens is controlled by a software driver that directs the focus setting for the collection of images multiple tumor images. The accompanying software processes the images for three-dimensional viewing and rendering in real time. The present disclosure may include embodiments similar to the one diagramed in FIG. 1, but on a smaller or miniaturized scale.

[0028] FIG. 8 diagrams an x-ray view of the embodiment described in FIG. 1.

[0029] FIG. 9 displays the application of the embodiment described in FIG. 1 as applied to the imaging of human cervical cancer. The embodiment is shown being tested on a gynecological manikin.

[0030] The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles described herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Thus, it is to be understood that the description and drawings presented herein represent a presently preferred embodiment of the present disclosure and are therefore representative of the subject matter, which is broadly contemplated by the present disclosure. It is further understood that the scope of the present disclosure fully encompasses other embodiments that may become obvious to those skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] The embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate like elements.

[0032] FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a process used by the present disclosure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates another diagram of a process used by the present disclosure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram of a structure used by the present disclosure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of another structure used by the present disclosure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of another structure used by the present disclosure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of another structure used by the present disclosure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram showing a relationship in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram showing another relationship in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] FIG. 9 illustrates a diagram of components used by the present disclosure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.