Abstract: Neuroimaging as a means for validating whether a stimulus such as advertisement, communication, or product evokes a certain mental response such as emotion, preference, or memory, or to predict the consequences of the stimulus on later behavior such as consumption or purchasing. Subjects are exposed to stimuli of varying types. Their brain responses are then measured by any one or a combination of neuroimaging devices. The results of neuroimaging are then used to predict future behavior of the subject and those similarly situated with respect to purchase or consumption of products, based upon the non-subjective evidence of neuroimaging.

Abstract: A system and method for calibrating a measurement instrument prior to making a measurement on a material or tissue includes utilizing a removable calibration device to calibrate the instrument, then removing a target portion of the calibration device so that a measurement may be performed. The calibration device may include an index matching agent, such as a gel, that is to be interposed between the patient's skin and an output end of the measuring instrument. A method embodying the invention may include making a bilirubin concentration measurement on a skin of a patient by measuring the amplitude of light reflected from the patient's skin at first and second wavelengths indicative of a blood content of the patient's skin, and measuring the amplitude of reflected light at a third wavelength indicative of an uncorrected bilirubin concentration, then calculating a corrected bilirubin concentration based on the three measurements.

Abstract: A method of measuring the intensity of radiation transmitted through a body of given shape and material, the method including the steps of directing an incident beam of electromagnetic radiation crosswise onto the body to obtain an output beam coaxial with the incident beam; and measuring the energy of the output beam by correcting the energy transmitted by each of the rays of at least one of the two beams as a function of the length (d) of an optical path through the body and aligned with the ray.

Abstract: An apparatus for evaluating perfusion adjacent a skin surface includes a housing having first and second interior regions. The housing is configured to engage the skin surface. The apparatus also includes a plunger located in the first region of the housing for applying pressure to a first zone of the skin surface, a vacuum connection coupled to the second region of the housing to permit suction to be applied to the second region of the housing and to a second zone of the skin surface, a first temperature sensor for generating an output signal related to the temperature of the first zone of the skin surface, a second temperature sensor for generating an output signal related to the temperature of the second zone of the skin surface, and a processor circuit coupled to the first and second temperature sensors for determining a differential temperature between the first and second zones of the skin surface to provide an indication of perfusion adjacent the skin surface.

Abstract: A combined infection shield and calibration or reference target for use with a measuring instrument includes a removable calibration/reference layer. The removable calibration/reference layer has predetermined optical characteristics that can be utilized to calibrate or reference the instrument. The calibration/reference layer may have predetermined reflectance or scattering properties, a predetermined transmissivity to light, or it may have predetermined fluorescence properties. When the calibration/reference layer is removed from the remaining portions of the device, the portion of the calibration/reference layer having the predetermined optical characteristics is irrevocably altered such that the calibration/reference layer cannot be reused. The combined infection shield and target may be attached to a shield holder, which in turn is attached to an instrument. Alternatively, the infection shield and target may be attached directly to an instrument.

Abstract: A combined infection shield and calibration or reference target for use with a measuring instrument includes a removable calibration/reference layer. The removable calibration/reference layer has predetermined optical characteristics that can be utilized to calibrate or reference the instrument. When the calibration/reference layer is removed from the remaining portions of the device, the portion of the calibration/reference layer having the predetermined optical characteristics is irrevocably altered such that the calibration/reference layer cannot be reused. The combined infection shield and target may be attached to a shield holder, which in turn is attached to an instrument. Alternatively, the infection shield and target may be attached directly to an instrument. The target may include a calibration/reference layer having a reduced strength portion which causes the target to tear or separate in a predetermined manner.

Abstract: The apparatus has: electrodes (E.sub.1 to E.sub.6) which are to be attached to a predetermined region of a living body; a skin potential measuring unit (1) which detects the skin potential from the electrodes; a judging unit (3) which detects and stores the skin potential before administration of an anesthetic agent, which detects and stores that after administration of the anesthetic agent, which sets a threshold to be an arbitrary level, on the basis of a change from the stored skin potential before administration of the anesthetic agent to the stored skin potential after administration of the anesthetic agent, and which compares the time-varying skin potential with the threshold, thereby judging the depth of anesthesia; and an alarm unit (6) which raises an alarm in accordance with instructions from the judging unit.

Abstract: A method for monitoring a region of a body surface includes recording at a first time a first multispectral digital image of the surface including the region, recording at a subsequent time a subsequent multispectral digital image of the surface including the region, and comparing the first and the subsequent images. Also, such a method in which the first and subsequent images are high magnification images, and further including recording low magnification images that include the high magnification images. Also, a method for forming a diagnostically useful classification of pigmented skin lesions includes using such a method to construct a database containing quantitatively extracted selected features from images recorded from a plurality of skin lesions, and correlating the features from each such lesion in the database with the medical history of the skin lesion from which the image was recorded.

Abstract: A disposable calibration device is used to calibrate a spectroscopic measurement system which transmits radiation to a material or tissue in order to effect measurements such as bilirubin measurements. The disposable calibration device includes a structure with a window through which radiation can be transmitted, as well as a removable calibration target arranged on the window and capable of returning a portion of the radiation for calibrating the spectrometer system. The removable calibration target can be peeled of the window to allow a measurement to be made on the material or tissue. Once a measurement is complete, the disposable calibration device can be discarded and a new calibration device can be inserted on the spectroscopic system.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for evaluating perfusion adjacent a skin surface includes the steps of measuring a reference rate of perfusion of the skin surface, storing the reference rate of perfusion, and applying a positive force to the skin surface. The apparatus and method also includes the steps of measuring a second rate of perfusion adjacent the skin surface after the positive force is applied, and calculating a differential rate of perfusion between the reference rate of perfusion and the second rate of perfusion after positive force is applied to provide an indication of perfusion adjacent the skin surface. The apparatus and method further includes the step of displaying the indication of perfusion.