Imaging biological tissue or other subjects

A system may include emitters configured to emit radiation at a first wavelength of electromagnetic (EM) radiation and a second wavelength of EM radiation towards a biological tissue, and receivers configured to receive responses to the first and second wavelengths of EM radiation after the wavelengths of EM radiation interact with the biological tissue. The system may also include a signal mixer unit configured to perform operations that include replicate and mix first signals representative of the responses to the first wavelength of EM radiation received by the receivers and second signals representative of the responses to the second wavelength of EM radiation received by the receivers to generate a set of spectro-spatial responses, replicate and mix the spectro-spatial responses to generate markers, and replicate and mix the markers and user-selected markers to output a sequence associated with characterization of the biological tissue.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates in general to the field of imaging biological tissue or other subjects, for example, by sequencing and/or characterization of biological tissue by any of a variety of methods which may include characterization of the physical state of a person based on biological tissue using electromagnetic (EM) frequency bands.

BACKGROUND

The human eye is capable of observing the visible wavelength ranges of the EM spectrum, which is a very small portion of the entire EM spectrum. If a broadband, “white” light source, such as the Sun, illuminates an object, that object would remit other wavelengths in addition to the visible wavelengths. Measuring certain characteristics of the remitted spectrum by an object can provide clues about the object's intrinsic properties. For example, these properties can include the physical state or the molecular composition of the object observed, along with other derived properties.

SUMMARY

One or more embodiments may include a method that includes emitting a first wavelength of electromagnetic (EM) radiation towards a biological tissue, and receiving, at a multiple receivers arranged in a spatial pattern, responses to the first wavelength of EM radiation after the first wavelength of EM radiation interacts with the biological tissue. The method may also include emitting a second wavelength of EM radiation towards the biological tissue, and receiving, at the receivers, responses to the second wavelength of EM radiation after the second wavelength of EM radiation interacts with the biological tissue. The method may also include performing processing on first signals that are representative of the received responses to the first wavelength of EM radiation and second signals that are representative of the received responses to the second wavelength of EM radiation. The processing may include replicating and mixing the first signals and the second signals to generate a set of spectro-spatial responses, replicating and mixing the spectro-spatial responses to generate multiple markers, and replicating and mixing the markers and user-selected markers to output a sequence associated with characterization of the biological tissue.

One or more embodiments may include a system that includes emitters configured to emit radiation at a first wavelength of electromagnetic (EM) radiation and a second wavelength of EM radiation towards a biological tissue, and receivers arranged in a spatial pattern and configured to receive responses to the first wavelength of EM radiation after the first wavelength of EM radiation interacts with the biological tissue and responses to the second wavelength of EM radiation after the second wavelength of EM radiation interacts with the biological tissue. The system may also include a signal mixer unit configured to perform operations that include replicate and mix first signals representative of the responses to the first wavelength of EM radiation received by the receivers and second signals representative of the responses to the second wavelength of EM radiation received by the receivers to generate a set of spectro-spatial responses, replicate and mix the spectro-spatial responses to generate markers, and replicate and mix the markers and user-selected markers to output a sequence associated with characterization of the biological tissue.

One or more embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by a processor, are configured to cause a system to perform one or more operations. The operations may include instruct a first set of emitters to emit a first wavelength of electromagnetic (EM) radiation towards a biological tissue, and receive, from multiple receivers arranged in a spatial pattern, first signals representative of responses to the first wavelength of EM radiation after the first wavelength of EM radiation interacts with biological tissue. The operations may also include instruct a second set of emitters to emit a second wavelength of EM radiation towards the biological tissue, and receive, from the receivers, second signals representative of responses to the second wavelength of EM radiation after the second wavelength of EM radiation interacts with the biological tissue. The operations may also include perform processing on the first and the second signals, where the processing includes replicate and mix the first signals and the second signals to generate a set of spectro-spatial responses, replicate and mix the spectro-spatial responses to generate markers, and replicate and mix the markers and user-selected markers to output a sequence associated with characterization of the biological tissue.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are merely examples and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In order to properly stage the state of a biological matter, certain fingerprints, which can reliably and robustly represent that state, need to be identified and monitored. In many cases, due to natural variances inherent in biological matters, these identifiers are smeared with noises within the received signal and one cannot deduce direct correlations with state of the biological tissue.

There are several approaches, such as multispectral (MS) or hyperspectral imaging, which are used for multi-band pass sensing. In case of imaging, one approach is to dissociate a color image, captured using a polychromatic camera, into its red, green, and blue (RGB) channels. This approach sub-divides the visible spectrum into three independent spectral bands. In such an approach, the spectral bands are highly dependent on the spectral response of the polychromatic sensor used for imaging and will vary between different sensors by different manufacturers. This approach is not a very accurate radiometric representation of targets within field-of-view (FOV) because polychromatic sensors typically use a Bayer filter to acquire the three channel RGB information and interpolate the missing spectral information in a given sensor pixel using its neighboring pixels, which do not necessarily contain similar spectral information.

One alternative approach to multi-spectral imaging employs a series of spectral bandpass filters combined with a monochromatic camera. These filters are designed to accurately transmit a wavelength range of interest while suppressing all other wavelengths. The filters can be placed in the path of the light entering the camera using approaches like a motorized filter wheel, liquid-crystal tunable filters, or acousto-optical tunable filters. Another alternative approach uses a series of light sources that can illuminate the target with light of a specific wavelength range. In this alternative approach, the remitted light is acquired on a monochromatic camera.

Some approaches perform simultaneous imaging for multi-spectral imaging using various beam splitter arrangements such that each spectral region may be imaged on its own respective camera system. Some approaches use a handheld MS imager that is limited to performing imaging in very limited spectral bands, such as the visible and the near-Infrared (NIR) spectral range. However, these systems only operate in the visible or in the NIR spectral range and are typically bulky and large. Other MS based imaging approaches are limited to the discrete EM spectrum of either the light sources or the sensor filters and therefore limited in the number of data points that can be accessed, processed, and extracted.

While previous approaches have attempted to utilize statistical models to provide a predictive analysis and diagnosis of the state of a biological matter from the photographic images or data, they have not been effective. Due to variations and large corpus of states potentially present, such previous approaches fail to determine the states accurately or with high probability.

A system and a method that can perform measurements of the signals remitted from a biological tissue, as well as, produce direct correlations that is robust to such natural variations in the state of biological tissue is disclosed. This system has the appropriate sources to radiate at various select EM bands in a controlled manner and is capable of detecting responding EM radiation (e.g., the radiation after interacting with the biological tissue) with high sensitivity.

Embodiments of the present disclosure improve upon such previous approaches. Such embodiments are explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1illustrates an example system100related to imaging biological tissue or other subjects, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The system100may include one or more emitters110, one or more receivers120, and a signal mixer unit130. The emitters110may emit EM radiation towards a subject to be imaged, and the receivers120may receive the EM radiation after the EM radiation has interacted with the subject. The signal mixer unit130may perform processing on the signals generated by the receivers120based on the EM radiation interactions. The signal mixer unit130may include a first portion132, a second portion134, and a third portion136.

The system100may be configured to perform measurements of the signals remitted from a biological tissue, as well as, produce direct correlations that are robust to such natural variations in the state of biological tissue. The system100may include the appropriate sources to radiate at various select EM bands in a controlled manner and is capable of detecting such emitted radiations with high sensitivity. In some embodiments the imaging of the biological tissue may be performed with trans-illumination for sublayer probing of the subject, an example of which is illustrated inFIG. 2. In some embodiments the imaging of the biological tissue may be performed with specular reflectance, an example of which is illustrated inFIG. 3.

The emitters110may include any system, device, or component configured to emit EM radiation. The EM radiation may include any range of EM radiation, such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared (IR) waves, visible light, ultraviolet (UV) light, x-rays, gamma rays, terahertz waves, etc. In some embodiments, the emitters110may include multiple emitters, where different emitters110are configured to emit radiation at different wavelengths, and may be independently excited to emit the radiation. Additionally or alternatively, the emitters110may be tunable or otherwise adjustable such that a single emitter110may be configured to emit multiple different wavelengths at different times (or at the same time).

In some embodiments the emitters110may include time interleaved independent band limited sources of EM radiation, and/or an extended bandpass source. For example, if three emitters are utilized with three distinct bands of EM radiation, the emitters may be sequentially powered to emit their respective bands of EM radiation and the target response to be detected by the receivers120. In these and other embodiments, the combination of the emitters110may provide the expected excitation EM radiation interacting with the subject. The expected EM radiation may be represented by:
S(ƒ)=S0(ƒ0)+S1(ƒ1)+ . . . +Sk(ƒk)
where each emitted field Si(ƒj) may represent the EM field emanating from the ithemitting source at frequency j having a specific bandpass domain. In some embodiments, the emitters110may provide any form of spatial radiation such as tophat, Bessel, Gaussian, etc.

The receivers120may include any system, device, or component configured to detect EM radiation and generate a signal representative of the EM radiation detected. In some embodiments, the receivers120may include multiple receivers120where each receiver is configured to receiver different wavelengths of EM radiation (e.g., narrow band receivers). Additionally or alternatively, a single receiver may be configured to detect radiation at multiple wavelengths (e.g., wide band receivers). In some embodiments, one or more of the receivers120may utilize a filter or other mechanism such that the signal detected by the receivers120is representative of a specific band of wavelengths, rather than all wavelengths of EM radiation received by the receiver. Such filters may be tunable or may be static filters.

In some embodiments, the EM radiation detected by the receivers120may be represented by:
D(ƒ)=D0(ƒ0)+D1(ƒ1)+ . . . +Dl(ƒl)
where the target location Di(ƒj) may represent the EM field detected by the ithreceiver at frequency j.

In some embodiments, the receivers120may include an imaging sensor with charged coupled devices (CCD) or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) pixels. In one embodiment, the receivers120may utilize discrete filters to provide band passes over the detecting radiation. The combination and placement of such filters on the receivers120in addition to the time interleaved sources may provide the basis to the signal mixer unit to produce non-sparse interaction response (e.g., the signal used for estimation of status of the target). In some embodiments, the receivers120may include any form of an antenna that receives the EM signals in specific locations and angles.

The signal mixer unit130may include any system, device, or component configured to perform processing on the signals detected by the receivers120. In some embodiments, the signal mixer unit130may include a computing device (such as the computing device illustrated inFIG. 9). The signal mixer unit130may include a first portion132or layer, a second portion134or layer, and/or a third portion136or layer.

In some embodiments, the signal mixer unit130may be implemented as an integrated circuit, as a look up table function, or as various adaptive mixing circuitries such as digital signal processing units, field programmable arrays, optical holographic units, etc. The implementation of the signal mixer unit130may take various forms and is not limited to a certain architecture or hardware.

The first portion132may be configured to replicate and mix the signals of the receivers120to generate a spatio-spectral response as detected by the receivers120that may be time-interleaved. For example, the spatio-spectral response may include values representative of the response of the subject to the EM radiation emitted by the emitters110and as detected by the receivers120across multiple spectral bands of EM radiation and across the spatial regions of the arrangement of the receivers120.

In some embodiments, the first portion132may also utilize data or signals related to the receivers120. For example, the first portion132may include a layer of replicator units followed by a layer of mixer units (which may be repeated in a cascade any number of times). In these and other embodiments, the time interleaved emitter110signals and the spatially and spectrally interleaved responses detected by the receivers120may be replicated and mixed to produce spatio-spectral responses from each or a combination of the individual receivers120. Stated another way, the first portion132may be configured to use a combination of signals from time-multiplexed emitters110and signals from the spatio-spectral receivers120to produce a spatio-spectral matrix response from the biological tissue or other subject. In some embodiments, operations of the first portion132may be represented by the kthemitter signal of the nth(l=1, . . . , N) mixed receiver y(n)=[y1(n), . . . , yK(n)]Twhich is a transformation of the corresponding amplitude vector a(n) of the emitter as a(n)=[a1(n), . . . , aM(n)]Taccording to
y(n)=g[a(n)]+e(n),
for n=1, . . . , N, where the function g: RM→RK(e.g., identifying what occurs to the signal of the emitter130based on the EM radiation interacting with the biological tissue or sample and as detected by the receivers120) includes a linear or nonlinear unmixer unit and e(n) includes a noise sequence in the ensemble of the signals.

The second portion134may be configured to replicate and mix the spatio-spectral response to generate markers associated with the subject. For example, by mixing the spatio-spectral response, a set of markers may be generated that are representative of various features of the subject.

In some embodiments, a replicator unit may utilize an input signal and replicate it a multitude of times to produce output signals to feed into a set of mixer units. A mixer unit may utilize a set of input signals and perform mixing based on a mixing function to produce an output signal. In these and other embodiments, a mixing function (ƒ) used by a signal mixer unit of the second portion134may be represented by
ƒ(x1,x2, . . . ,xp)=a1x1b1+a2x2b2+ . . . +apxpbp
where aiand biare parameters corresponding to the ithinput signal, and x1, x2, . . . , xpmay represent the ithinput signal providing the spatial maps of the target (e.g., the replications for a given element of the spectro-spatial response generated by the first portion132).

In some embodiments, the parameters of the signal mixer unit130may be tuned based on the desired application. For example, if imaging skin and analyzing for skin disease, the markers may include any of physiological markers, concentrations of deoxygenated hemoglobin, oxygenated hemoglobin, etc. and the parameters may be tuned accordingly. In some embodiments, the parameters may be tuned based on the received signals after any combination of linear and non-linear light-matter interactions including absorption, transmission, reflection, scattering, Raman scattering, Brillouin scattering, Rayleigh scattering, etc. In some embodiments, a map of the various markers may be generated based on the physical locations of the various markers throughout the subject, and spatial variance observed in the received signals after being unmixed by the first portion132. For example, the concentrations of various markers at discreet spatial locations of the biological tissue or other subject may be used to produce heterogeneity maps of these markers through biological tissue or other subject. In these and other embodiments, the parameters of the signal mixer units may be tuned to enable the select physiological markers used to produce the heterogeneity maps of the target.

The third portion136may be configured to replicate and mix the markers of the subject and user-selected markers to generate a sequence representative of the subject. The user-selected markers may include tissue disease, shape, size, etc. The sequence may operate as a fingerprint or barcode via which the state of the subject may be determined. For example, various portions of the sequence may be identified and/or compared to other reference portions of the sequence to identify the state of the subject. The sequence may be referred to as a radiomic sequence and may include any number of parameters, such as thousands of parameters. The sequence may provide a highly specific (or even unique) fingerprint for the states of a biological matter and may act as a key to such states, analogous to a genomic sequence. For example, just as various portions of a genomic sequence may be identified as corresponding to a given protein to be coded, a sequence or portion of the radiomic sequence may identify a particular state of the biological tissue or other subject.

In some embodiments, the operation of the third portion136may be represented by the mixing function
s(w1,w2, . . . ,wu)=c1r1d1+c2r2d2+ . . . +curudu
where cuand duare parameters corresponding to the uthmarker or user-selected marker (ru), and s( . . . ) represents the sequence that is output by the third portion136.

In some embodiments, the system100may output the sequence generated by the third portion136and provide it to a comparative agent or machine. The comparative agent or machine may compare the sequence with a bank of known pre-verified sequences to predict a given state of the biological tissue or other subject, and/or an associated prognosis.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made toFIG. 1without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the system100may include more components or fewer components than those illustrated.

FIG. 2illustrates an example system200for imaging and/or analyzing biological tissue230or other subjects using trans-illumination, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 2, one or more emitters210(e.g., the emitters210a,210b, . . . ,210n) may be configured to emit EM radiation215that is received by one or more receivers220(e.g., the receivers220a,220b, . . . ,220c) after interacting with biological tissue230(or some other subject).

As illustrated inFIG. 2, the emitters210may be positioned and arranged such that the EM radiation may pass through the biological tissue230before the response thereof is received by the receivers220. As the EM radiation215passes through the biological tissue230, the response thereto may be modified, reflected, refracted, scattered, etc. by interacting with the biological tissue230. In these and other embodiments and as described herein, utilizing the EM radiation215as output by the emitters210and the EM radiation215as detected by the receivers220, a sequence associated with the biological tissue230may be generated.

In some embodiments, the interaction with the tissue may include any combination of linear or non-linear light-matter interactions. For example, the interactions may include any of absorption, transmission, reflection, scattering, Raman scattering, Brillouin scattering, ad Rayleigh scattering, etc.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made toFIG. 2without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3illustrates an example system300for imaging and/or analyzing biological tissue300or other subjects using reflection, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 3, one or more emitters310(e.g., the emitters310a,310b, . . . ,310n) may be configured to emit EM radiation315that interacts with and is reflected back by the biological tissue330as a reflected EM response317and received by one or more receivers320.

As illustrated inFIG. 3, the emitters310may be positioned and arranged such that the EM radiation315may be reflected back generally in a similar direction to a location of the emitters310off of the biological tissue330before being received by the receivers320. As the EM radiation315is reflected by the biological tissue330, the reflected EM radiation317may be modified as compared to the initial EM radiation315based on the properties of the biological tissue330. In these and other embodiments and as described herein, utilizing the EM radiation315as output by the emitters310and the EM radiation317as detected by the receivers320, a spatio-spectral response associated with the biological tissue330may be generated.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made toFIG. 3without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4illustrates an example system400of one arrangement of emitters410and receivers420to facilitate imaging and/or analyzing of a biological tissue or other subjects, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

As illustrated inFIG. 4, in some embodiments, the emitters410may include a first emitter410aconfigured to emit radiation at a first wavelength, a second emitter410bconfigured to emit radiation at a second wavelength, etc. In these and other embodiments, the receivers420may include a first receiver420aconfigured to detect EM responses at a first band of wavelengths, a second receiver420bconfigured to detect radiation at a second band of wavelengths, etc. The various hashmarks illustrate that the various emitters410and/or receivers420may be configured to operate at a particular spectral, temporal, and/or polarized sequence, or some portion or any combination of any of the foregoing.

In some embodiments, the receivers420may be positioned in a central region430that may correspond generally with a biological tissue or other subject. For example, the biological tissue may be positioned relative to the receivers420such that as EM response is reflected off of the biological tissue it is directed towards the receivers420.

In some embodiments, the emitters410may be positioned in an outer region440that goes around the central region430.

While one embodiment is illustrated inFIG. 4, it will be appreciated that any arrangement of emitters410and receivers420are contemplated within the present disclosure. For example, the emitters410and the receivers420may be interspersed among each other. As another example, the emitters410may be in the central region430and the receivers420may be in the outer region440.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the system400without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, any number of arrangements of emitters410and receivers420are contemplated.

FIG. 5illustrates an example of a first portion500of a signal mixer device, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 5, the first portion500may receive as input one or more of the received signals510(e.g., received signals510a,510b, . . . ,510n) as detected by the receivers and/or as emitted by the emitters and interacting with the target. The first portion500includes a first set of replicators520athat replicate the input signals a number of times and pass those signals to one or more mixer unites530a. The output of the mixer units530amay be used as the input signal for the next cascade of replicators520b. The output of the replicators530bmay be used as the inputs for the mixer units530b. While three iterations of the cascade of replicators520and mixers530are illustrated, any number of iterations of replicators520and mixers530(e.g., up to the replicators520nand mixers530n) are contemplated within the present disclosure.

After the cascade of replicators520and mixers530, the first portion500may output a series of spectro-spatial responses540a-n. In some embodiments, the number of spectro-spatial responses540may be based on the number of frequency bands emitted, the number of frequency bands selected for by the receivers, the number of distinct spatial signals received, the number of receivers, the number of emitters, the combination set of emitters emitting at a subset of bands at the same time, etc.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the first portion500without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, any number of iterations of the cascade of replicators520and mixers530may be included.

FIG. 6illustrates an example of a second portion of a signal mixer device600, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 6, the second portion600may receive as input the spatio-spectral responses610(e.g., the spatio-spectral responses610as output by the first portion500ofFIG. 5). The second portion600includes a first set of replicators620athat replicate the input signals a number of times and pass those signals to one or more mixer unites630a. The output of the mixer units630amay be used as the input signal for the next cascade of replicators620b. The output of the replicators630bmay be used as the inputs for the mixer units630b. While three iterations of the cascade of replicators620and mixers630are illustrated, any number of iterations of replicators620and mixers630(e.g., up to the replicators620nand mixers630n) are contemplated within the present disclosure.

After the cascade of replicators620and mixers630, the second portion600may output a set of markers640a-n.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the second portion600without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, any number of iterations of the cascade of replicators620and mixers630may be included.

FIG. 7illustrates an example of a third portion700of a signal mixer device, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 7, the third portion700may receive as input the produced markers710(e.g., the markers640as output by the second portion600ofFIG. 6). Additionally or alternatively, the third portion700may receive as inputs a set of user-defined markers750. In some embodiments, the third portion700includes a first set of replicators720athat replicate the input signals a number of times and pass those signals to one or more mixer unites730a. The output of the mixer units730amay be used as the input signal for the next cascade of replicators720b. The output of the replicators730bmay be used as the inputs for the mixer units730b. While three iterations of the cascade of replicators720and mixers730are illustrated, any number of iterations of replicators720and mixers730(e.g., up to the replicators720nand mixers730n) are contemplated within the present disclosure.

After the cascade of replicators720and mixers730, the second portion700may output an array of values740a-nas a sequence corresponding to the biological sample or other subject being imaged.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the third portion700without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, any number of iterations of the cascade of replicators720and mixers730may be included.

FIG. 8illustrates a flowchart of an example method800of imaging biological tissue or other subject, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

At block805the method800may begin. For example, one or more counting variables may be initialized, such as the variable i.

At block810, a determination may be made whether i<n, or stated another way, whether the method800has gone through to capture data for each of the distinct emitter sets. While i continues to be less than n the method800proceeds to the block815.

At block815, the ithemitter series may be activated. For example, a subset of all the emitters may be activated, where the subset emits at a given bandwidth of EM frequency or frequencies. As another example, one or more of the emitters may be tuned to a certain frequency and may be activated.

At block820, data may be captured from the receivers. For example, the receivers that are configured to detect a band of EM frequencies within which the emitters are emitting at block815may convert the received signals into a readable signal that may be captured to be used in processing.

At block825, a determination may be made whether i<n, or stated another way, whether the method800has gone through to capture data for each of the distinct emitters. If it is determined that i is less than n, the method800may increment i and return to the block810such that another series of emitters may be activated (at block815) and the corresponding data may be captured (at block820). If it is determined that i is not less than n (e.g., all the series of emitters have been activated), the method800may proceed to the block830.

At block830, a spatio-spectral response may be generated. For example, the operation at the block830may perform the operations associated with the first portion of the signal mixer unit as described in the present disclosure.

At block835, a set of markers may be generated. For example, the operation at the block840may perform the operations associated with the second portion of the signal mixer unit as described in the present disclosure.

At block840, a sequence may be generated. For example, the operation at the block850may perform the operations associated with the third portion of the signal mixer unit as described in the present disclosure.

At block845, the sequence may be compared to various known sequences. For example, known sequences may correspond to various disease conditions, health conditions, physiological statuses, etc. such that the sequence of block840may be compared to other known sequences.

At block850, based on the comparison of block845, estimates may be provided regarding the current state of the biological tissue or other subject based on a similarity index with the known sequences. For example, if the sequence at issue includes a portion that is nearly identical to a known sequence corresponding to some state, a high-confidence estimate may be provided regarding the state of the biological tissue that corresponds to the known state. In these and other embodiments, the similarity between the sequence being analyzed and the known sequences may be determined numerically, statistically, or by any other mathematical comparison.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the method800without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the operations may be performed in a differing order. As another example, additional operations may be added to, or performed in conjunction with the operations of the method800. As an additional example, operations may be added, omitted, and/or performed simultaneously. As another example, various operations may be combined into a single operation, or a single operation may be divided into multiple operations.

FIG. 9illustrates an example computing system900, according to at least one embodiment described in the present disclosure. The system900may include any suitable system, apparatus, or device configured to communicate over a network. The computing system900may include a processor910, a memory920, a data storage930, and a communication unit940, which all may be communicatively coupled. The data storage930may include various types of data, such as software projects, API documents, computer source code, etc.

Generally, the processor910may include any suitable special-purpose or general-purpose computer, computing entity, or processing device including various computer hardware or software modules and may be configured to execute instructions stored on any applicable computer-readable storage media. For example, the processor910may include a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or any other digital, analog, or optical circuitry configured to interpret and/or to execute program instructions and/or to process data.

Although illustrated as a single processor inFIG. 9, it is understood that the processor910may include any number of processors distributed across any number of network or physical locations that are configured to perform individually or collectively any number of operations described in the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the processor910may interpret and/or execute program instructions and/or process data stored in the memory920, the data storage930, or the memory920and the data storage930. In some embodiments, the processor910may fetch program instructions from the data storage930and load the program instructions into the memory920.

After the program instructions are loaded into the memory920, the processor910may execute the program instructions, such as instructions to perform one or more operations of the method800ofFIG. 8. For example, the processor910may obtain instructions regarding directing emitters to emit EM radiation at certain frequencies, receive signals from receivers representing received EM radiation after interacting with a biological tissue or other subject, and perform processing on the signals to provide, such as reproducing and mixing various aspects or features of the signals to derive a sequence from which the state of the biological tissue or sample can be determined.

The memory920and the data storage930may include computer-readable storage media or one or more computer-readable storage mediums for carrying or having computer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer-readable storage media may be any available media that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, such as the processor910. In some embodiments, the computing system900may or may not include either of the memory920and the data storage930.

The communication unit940may include any component, device, system, or combination thereof that is configured to transmit or receive information over a network. In some embodiments, the communication unit940may communicate with other devices at other locations, the same location, or even other components within the same system. For example, the communication unit940may include a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an optical communication device, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device (such as an antenna), and/or chipset (such as a Bluetooth device, an 802.6 device (e.g., Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)), a WiFi device, a WiMax device, cellular communication facilities, or others), and/or the like. The communication unit940may permit data to be exchanged with a network and/or any other devices or systems described in the present disclosure. For example, the communication unit940may allow the system900to communicate with other systems, such as computing devices and/or other networks. As another example, the communication unit940may communicate with emitters and/or receivers.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the system900without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the data storage930may be multiple different storage mediums located in multiple locations and accessed by the processor910through a network.

As indicated above, the embodiments described in the present disclosure may include the use of a special purpose or general purpose computer (e.g., the processor910ofFIG. 9) including various computer hardware or software modules, as discussed in greater detail below. Further, as indicated above, embodiments described in the present disclosure may be implemented using computer-readable media (e.g., the memory920or data storage930ofFIG. 9) for carrying or having computer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon.

Additionally, if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations.

However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations.