Bilirubin Patents (Class 600/315)
  • Publication number: 20040209237
    Abstract: The invention provides a system and methods for in-situ identification of one or more regions of tissue at which there is a likelihood of disease. The invention generally relates to methods and devices for acquiring, analyzing, processing, and displaying optical data and diagnostic results from a patient sample. For example, methods of the invention comprise obtaining spectral and visual data from a patient sample, calibrating the data, compensating for sample motion, arbitrating between redundant data sets, identifying potentially non-representative data, analyzing the data, and displaying the diagnostic results. The invention provides the option of real-time data processing and diagnosis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2003
    Publication date: October 21, 2004
    Applicant: MediSpectra, Inc.
    Inventors: Ross F. Flewelling, Peter J. Costa, Stephen T. Sum, Kevin T. Schomacker, Chunsheng Jiang, Thomas R. Clune
  • Patent number: 6596016
    Abstract: A phototherapy garment contains a flexible backing material, a transparent liner, and a flexible printed circuit sheet containing surface-mounted light-emitting diodes (LEDs) positioned between the backing material and the liner. An infant is placed inside the garment so that the LEDs illuminate a large portion of the infant's skin for phototherapy. The LEDs preferably emit high-intensity blue light, suitable for treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia or Crigler-Najjar syndrome. The LEDs are arranged in a densely packed array facing the liner and emit uniform, high intensity light. A power supply, which may be portable, supplies adjustable power to the LEDs, preferably pulsed with a duty cycle of approximately 10%, and preferably to overdrive the LEDs to maximize light output. A two-way communications device incorporated into the garment allows a physician or computer to control the garment remotely and gather relevant information periodically or continuously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2003
    Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
    Inventors: Hendrik J. Vreman, Daniel S. Seidman, David K. Stevenson
  • Publication number: 20030109773
    Abstract: A system and method embodying the invention can be used to detect a characteristic or condition of a patient. A method embodying the invention may include the steps of illuminating a portion of a skin of the patient with light, detecting a frequency spectrum of light scattered from the skin, determining, from first and second portions of the spectrum, a first parameter indicative of a blood content of the skin and a second parameter indicative of a melanin content of the skin, determining, from a third portion of the spectrum, a third parameter indicative of an uncorrected bilirubin concentration, and calculating a corrected bilirubin concentration based on the first, second and third parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2002
    Publication date: June 12, 2003
    Applicant: SpectRx, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark A. Samuels, Keith D. Ignotz, Gregory J. Newman, Jonathan A. Eppstein, Fan Xu
  • Publication number: 20030011773
    Abstract: The invention concerns a method and a device for non-invasive measurement of a tissue and in particular of the skin bilirubin level. The inventive device is characterized in that it comprises: a reading head (1) capable of sending several flashes of various specific wavelengths towards the tissue (2) to be examined and of receiving and measuring in return the reflected light; a calculator, such as a microprocessor, capable of calculating for each wavelength the amount of reflected light and bring it to a value calculated proportionally to a reference value identical for a predetermined wavelength; and a comparator for comparing the calculated value to a table of reference values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2002
    Publication date: January 16, 2003
    Inventor: Jean-Michel Dick
  • Patent number: 6192734
    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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2001
    Assignee: SpectRx, Inc
    Inventors: Robert Rothfritz, Scott Kerr, Glenn Steven Arche, Scott Kellogg, Gregory J. Newman, Mark A. Samuels, Richard Lachlan Fowler
  • Patent number: 6129664
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining the condition of a test subject based on color uses a color measuring instrument to detect change in a color factor indicative of a condition such as a disease, spoilage, ageing, etc. A medical condition such as bilirubinemia that affects skin color can be detected. One measures color factors such as Hunter b and L in the subjects' skin color. For predetermined ranges of one color factor, in particular L, changes in the other color factor, e.g. Hunter b, above predetermined levels are indicative of the medical condition. In many cases, a single measurement of the color factors can be utilized as a warning of the likelihood of the medical or contaminated condition, if the ordinary range of the color factor is known for healthy individuals with skin coloration like that of the test subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2000
    Assignee: Chromatics Color Sciences International, Inc.
    Inventors: Darby Simpson Macfarlane, David Kenneth Macfarlane, Fred W. Billmeyer, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6128516
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining the condition of a test subject based on color uses a color measuring instrument to detect change in a color factor indicative of a condition such as a disease, spoilage, ageing, etc. A medical condition such as bilirubinemia that affects skin color can be detected. One measures color factors such as Hunter b and L in the subjects' skin color. For predetermined ranges of one color factor, in particular L, changes in the other color factor, e.g. Hunter b, above predetermined levels are indicative of the medical condition. In many cases, a single measurement of the color factors can be utilized as a warning of the likelihood of the medical or contaminated condition, if the ordinary range of the color factor is known for healthy individuals with skin coloration like that of the test subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2000
    Assignee: Chromatics Color Sciences International Inc.
    Inventors: Darby Simpson Macfarlane, David Kenneth Macfarlane, Fred W. Billmeyer, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6045502
    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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2000
    Assignee: SpectRx, Inc.
    Inventors: Jonathan A. Eppstein, Mark A. Samuels, Keith D. Ignotz, Gregory J. Newman
  • Patent number: 5933226
    Abstract: An attachment is designed such that a concentration measuring apparatus is attachable to and detachable from it. Inside the leading end portion of the attachment, leading ends of two light guide members are provided opposite to each other so as to hold a micro cuvette mounted on the attachment. One light guide member guides light from a light source of the concentration measuring apparatus to subject matter in the micro cuvette while the other guides light from the subject matter to light receiving elements of the concentration measuring apparatus. The concentration measuring apparatus calculates a concentration of the subject matter based on respective outputs from the light receiving elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 3, 1999
    Assignee: Minolta Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Akio Yamanishi
  • Patent number: 5924981
    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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1999
    Assignee: SpectRx, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Rothfritz, Scott Kerr, Glenn Steven Arche, Scott Kellogg, Gregory J. Newman, Mark A. Samuels, Richard Lachlan Fowler
  • Patent number: 5820556
    Abstract: A method for a preferably ambulatory measuring and registration of at least one parameter in relation to the bilirubin presence in a measuring region in the gastrointestinal tract of a patient to determine the bilirubin presence in the region. The method is characterized in that the bilirubin presence determination is made in relation to the pH-value of the fluids in the region. The invention relates also to a system for performing the method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 13, 1998
    Assignee: Synectics Medical AB
    Inventor: Anders Essen-Moller