Patent ID: 6526309
Filing Date: 2003-02-25
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
An optical method for transcranial in vivo examination of brain tissue of a subject, comprising:providing an array of optical fibers having distal ends arranged to be projected through hair into contact with a surface of the scalp and arranged over a selected geometrical pattern, said array of optical fibers being constructed to transmit optical radiation of a visible or infra-red wavelength; emitting optical radiation of said wavelength from at least one light source; multiplexing said emitted optical radiation into one of said optical fibers and introducing said emitted optical radiation into brain tissue from the distal end of said optical fiber; detecting, by at least one detector, radiation that has migrated within the brain tissue from said distal end to the distal end of another said fiber according to a transmission/reception algorithm selected for said geometrical pattern; providing signals of said detected radiation from said detector to a processor and correlating said signals with said transmission/reception algorithm; repeating said emitting, said introducing, and said detecting to provide additional signals of said detected radiation based on said transmission/reception algorithm; producing by said processor, based on said signals, an optical data set for the examined brain tissue; and monitoring evolution of a tissue state of the examined brain tissue over time.