Patent ID: 7729749

Claim:
A method for evaluating a connective tissue condition of a patient, the method comprising: irradiating a portion of tissue of the patient using a light source, the tissue at a first location of the body of the patient, wherein the portion of tissue from tissue at the first location comprises at least one of ocular tissue, nasal cartilage tissue, or ear cartilage tissue; receiving light from the portion of the tissue; determining spectral content information associated with the received light; and generating, based at least on the spectral content information, an indicator of a connective tissue condition associated with connective tissue at a second location of the body of the patient, the second location remote from the first location; wherein the connective tissue at the second location comprises cartilage from at least one of a joint of the hand, a joint of the foot, a knee joint, a hip joint, a back joint, or a neck joint; and wherein generating the indicator of the connective tissue condition associated with connective tissue at the second location comprises measuring, in the spectral content information, parameters indicative of the connective tissue condition associated with connective tissue at the second location.