Patent ID: 8335550

Claim:
An optical sensor device for measuring a concentration of at least one substance in or on a mammalian subject, the device comprising: a. an array of photodetectors, each photodetector configured to sense over time a continuous spectrum of light having a wavelength between near UV and near IR, the array configured to obtain thereby spatial temporal per pixel information for a color space of a first visible color, spatial temporal per pixel information for a color space of a second visible color and spatial temporal per pixel information for a color space of a third visible color, said array for receiving light reflected from and/or traversing a first tissue of the mammalian subject and for producing electric signals over time derived from a sequence of spatial temporal per pixel information for the color spaces of the first, second and third visible colors, the first, second and third visible colors having overlapping wavelengths, the array of photodetectors configured to sense the spectrum of light and produce the electric signals whether incident light incident on the first tissue from the light source is filtered or unfiltered, continuous or discontinuous, of a natural light source or of an artificial light source; and b. a processing unit adapted to receive and electronically process said electric signals derived from the sequence of spatial temporal per pixel information for the color spaces of the first, second and third visible colors to generate output, the output comprising at least one of (i) a histogram and temporal and spatial variations, and (ii) ratios of spatial temporal per pixel information for at least one of the visible colors to spatial temporal per pixel information for at least another of the visible colors, the output indicative of at least one of a concentration and a concentration profile of at least one substance within or on the mammalian subject or a region thereof, by matching a level of the at least one of the concentration and concentration profile with the output by using a known correlation between known data points of per pixel information and at least one of the concentration and concentration profile of the at least one substance, the optical sensor device adapted to measure the concentration of the at least one substance in or on the mammalian subject whether the incident light incident on the first tissue from the light source is filtered or unfiltered, continuous or discontinuous, of a natural light source or of an artificial light source as a result of the processing unit recognizing signals derived from light from both filtered and unfiltered, continuous and discontinuous, and natural light sources and artificial light sources.