IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENHANCED VISUALIZATION OF NEAR SURFACE VASCULAR STRUCTURES

摘要

A sub-dermal structure visualization system and method is disclosed. The system may use an illumination module including: a near-infrared (NIR) light source adapted to substantially uniformly illuminate an imaged area including sub-dermal regions thereof with NIR light; and a first optical system including at least one optical element for controlling at least one of spectral and polarization properties of the NIR light prior to illuminating the imaged area. An imaging module rejects unwanted signals from an imaged area while passing desired optical signals that are to be received by an image acquisition module. The desired optical signals can comprise a vein visualization signal to assist in visualizing a vascular structure below a skin layer of a patient.

主权项

1. A sub-dermal structure visualization system, comprising:
an illumination module, further comprising:
a near-infrared (NIR) light source adapted to illuminate an imaged area; anda first optical system configured with at least one optical element for controlling at least one of spectral and polarization properties of the source near-infrared (NIR) light directed to the illuminated imaged area; an imaging module, further comprising:
a second optical system configured with at least one optical element for rejecting unwanted one or more optical components of an optical signal returning from the imaged area while passing a part of the returning optical signal having one or more desired spectral and polarization properties;an imaging device arranged to optically relay an image as provided by a configuration selected from: a predetermined magnification and focus configuration and an adjustable magnification and focus configuration; andan image acquisition subsystem configured to collect the image from the imaging device and select one or more desired optical components of the detected optical signal, wherein the one or more desired optical components of the detected optical signal comprise a vein visualization signal; an image enhancing subsystem configured to select for display a sub-range of intensities of the detected optical signal that comprises the vein visualization signal; and an image display module configured with at least one of an electronic visual display and an image projector that displays the image with at least one display property selected from: an aspect ratio, a desired resolution, and an image contrast that matches or exceeds the corresponding values of the image provided by the image enhancing means.