FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improvements in multispectral imaging for determining the characteristics of an objects, and more particularly to improvements which are capable of providing imaging of internal structure through trans-illumination apparatus and techniques.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The human visual system is able to detect light in a range of wavelengths that are typically described as “visible light.” The longest wavelengths detected are red, the mid range is green and shortest wavelengths are blue. Long wavelength light such as infrared and short wavelength light such as ultraviolet are invisible to the human eye. The characteristics of an object that we can determine with the unaided eye are limited to those that can be detected in this spectrum. Furthermore, the trichromatic system used by the eye is broadband in nature and cannot see narrowband artifacts such as would be seen by a spectrophotometer.

Several products have reached market that emit infrared light on an object and use the reflected light to detect a pattern of varying contrast in the infrared spectrum. The device then projects an image that follows those contrast changes using a wavelength within the visible spectrum. In one such product, the AccuVein AV300, detects a pattern of absorption and reflection in the infrared and re-projects that pattern as red. Given that hemoglobin absorbs infrared light to a greater degree than the surrounding tissue, the projected pattern can be used by a medical practitioner to identify the position of a vein to be used for venipuncture.

In other products, the light is captured and the processed image is displayed on a remote screen such as an LCD panel or through an eyepiece that is in line with the object.

These contrast enhancement products act as color shifters. Just as the human eye would detect variations in absorption and reflection in the three colors it can see (red, green and blue), these contrast enhancers detect the variations at wavelengths outside the visible spectrum and display the corresponding pattern inside the visible spectrum.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

1. It is an object of the invention to use a laser camera to detect characteristics of an observed object based on the reflection and absorption of the laser light or based on the re-emission of absorbed light at a different wavelength than the incident light.2. It is an object of the invention to use a single or multiple wavelengths of laser light to detect characteristics of an observed object based on the reflection and absorption of the laser light based or the re-emission of absorbed light at a different wavelength than the incident light.3. It is an object of the invention to use multi-spectral imaging by capturing light from wavelengths beyond just the visible light range, such as infrared and UV. This allows extraction of additional information that the human eye fails to capture with its receptors for red, green and blue.4. It is an object of the invention to use hyper-spectral imaging by capturing information from a plurality of wavelengths including and beyond the visible light range, such as infrared and UV. This allows extraction of additional information that the human eye fails to capture with its broadband receptors.5. It is an object of the invention to detect characteristics of the observed object both of the surface of the observed object when it its opaque and of the surface and below the surface when the object is translucent.6. It is an object of the invention to improve the quality of detection of characteristics of the observed object by iteratively varying in real time the intensity of the light emitted by the laser camera based on the previously detected characteristics of the observed object.7. It is an object of the invention to present detected characteristics of the observed object back on to the object itself or on to a display visible to the user of the device or both using contrast, color, false color, icons or text or a combination of these modalities.8. It is an object of the invention to capture detected characteristics of the observed object for the purpose of record keeping or for the purpose of post processing or for the purposes of detecting changes and trends in the observed object or a combination of these purposes.9. It is an object of the invention to combine the detected characteristics of the observed object with external sources of data for the purposes of refining and/or extending the meaning of the detected characteristics.10. It is an object of the invention to improve the detection characteristics of the system by using transillumination.11. It is an of the invention to detect characteristics of many types of objects and materials including veins, arteries, teeth, metals and plastics.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention disclosed herein extends this concepts described in the parent applications in several novel ways, which can be used individually, or in combination.1. By using more than one wavelength of light for analysis, additional characteristics about the object being scanned can be determined and then this additional information can be re-projected back on to the surface within the visible spectrum making these characteristics visible to a human either as a color-shifted image or as a false-color image. In this embodiment the device acts like a photo spectrometer that re-projects a visible image back on the object.2. Contrast enhancement products rely on differential absorption and reflection of light (i.e. they detect contrast changes) and then re-project that contrast pattern. An alternative embodiment can also use florescence of the object being scanned by shining light of one wavelength on to the object and detecting light at another wavelength returned from the object and then this information being re-projected back on to the surface within the visible spectrum making these characteristics visible. In this embodiment the device acts like a spectroscope that re-projects a visible image back on the object.3. This invention can further use florescence or color change of a material applied to the object being scanned that based on the characteristics of the object exhibits either a color change (and can therefore use contrast enhancement) or a florescence at one or more wavelengths of incident light.

The invention can be further enhanced by combining some or all of these techniques to detect and project different characteristics of the object being scanned and projecting them back on the object.

While many of the descriptions are for embodiments that use re-projection back on to the object under study as the user interface, embodiments with user interfaces remote from the object such as an LCD screen will be useful in many applications. Furthermore, the combination of re-projection and remote displays will also be useful in many applications.

While the devices and systems described herein focus on multispectral systems and describe specific embodiments of said devices and systems, the methods, features, functions, abilities, and accessories described in the parent applications apply fully.

