Patent ID: 7330747

Claim:
A method of assessing a component of a tissue of an animal, the method comprising: irradiating a plurality of regions of the tissue to generate radiation therefrom; evaluating first optical data generated from each of said plurality of irradiated regions to identify at least one of said plurality of regions of tissue exhibiting a first optical characteristic of the tissue, said first optical characteristic associated with said first optical property; obtaining second optical data generated from said at least one identified region in said plurality of regions, wherein said first and said second optical data are generated by different spectroscopic modes, wherein the second optical data is generated by transmitting radiation, generated from said at least one identified region, through a filter, thereby obtaining filtered photons; assessing said component in said at least one identified region by evaluating said filtered photons for a second optical characteristic associated with said component; and reporting an identity for said component in accordance with a result of said accessing step.