Patent ID: 7239385

Claim:
A probe for a spectrophotometric instrument, the probe comprising: a probe housing having a tissue engaging surface with first and second apertures extending therethrough; a first optical path having a proximal end optically coupleable to a light source and extending to a distal end optically coupled to the first aperture for delivering a beam of measurement light signals to a tissue sample; a first reflective member having a reflective surface and formed with a first portion positioned adjacent the distal end of the first optical path and the first aperture, wherein the reflective member reflects the measurement light onto the tissue sample; a second optical path having a distal end optically coupled to the first optical path adjacent the first aperture for sampling a reference light signal portion of the measurement light signals of the first optical path and extending to a proximal end coupleable to a processor; and a third optical path having a distal end optically coupled to the second aperture and extending to a proximal end coupleable to the processor.