Patent ID: 8403862

Claim:
A method for diagnosing a clinical state of a portion of a body of a subject, comprising: (1) causing the portion to enter a functional state, by directing toward the portion a first pulse of electromagnetic energy; (2) while the portion is in the functional state due to the first pulse of electromagnetic energy, directing toward the portion a second pulse of electromagnetic energy; (3) detecting with a detecting device, at a second-pulse time, energy of the second pulse of electromagnetic energy that is reflected from the portion; (4) while the portion is in a functional state due to the first and second pulses of electromagnetic energy, directing toward the portion a third pulse of electromagnetic energy; (5) detecting with the detecting device, at a third-pulse time, energy of the third pulse of electromagnetic energy that is reflected from the portion; (6) in response to detecting the energy of the second pulse of electromagnetic energy that is reflected from the portion at the second-pulse time and detecting the energy of the third pulse of electromagnetic energy that is reflected from the portion at the third-pulse time, quantifying a characteristic of the portion resulting from (a) the functional state due to the first pulse of electromagnetic energy and (b) the functional state due to the first and second pulses of electromagnetic energy; and (7) identifying a clinical state of the subject in response to quantifying the characteristic of the portion.