Claims
- 1. A method of using a spectral mask to process spectral data, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying at least one spectral mask to identify a subset of spectral data obtained from a plurality of regions of a tissue sample, wherein said subset comprises data that are non-representative of a zone of interest of said tissue sample; (b) identifying one or more regions of said tissue sample from which said subset was obtained; and (c) processing spectral data obtained from said plurality of regions in a tissue classification scheme.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said subset consists of data that are non-representative of a zone of interest of said tissue sample.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said processing step comprises disqualifying said subset of spectral data from use in said tissue classification scheme.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said processing step comprises classifying said one or more identified regions as indeterminate.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said processing step comprises determining an overlap between said one or more regions and an area identified by one or more image masks.
- 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of classifying at least a portion of said overlap as indeterminate.
- 7. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of weighting spectral data from said overlap in said tissue classification scheme.
- 8. The method of claim 5, wherein said one or more image masks comprise a member selected from the group consisting of a smoke tube mask, a speculum mask, a region-of-interest mask, and a vaginal wall mask.
- 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said spectral data comprises fluorescence spectral data and reflectance spectral data.
- 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one spectral mask comprises a cervical edge mask.
- 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said cervical edge mask is based at least in part on a ratio of a first reflectance intensity at a first wavelength to a second reflectance intensity at a second wavelength.
- 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said first wavelength is about 700 nm and said second wavelength is about 540 nm.
- 13. The method of claim 10, wherein said cervical edge mask is based at least in part on a ratio of a first fluorescence intensity at a first wavelength to a second fluorescence intensity at a second wavelength.
- 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said first wavelength is about 530 nm and said second wavelength is about 410 nm.
- 15. The method of claim 10, wherein said applying step comprises comparing the ratio F(530 nm)/F(410 nm) with a threshold of about 4.75.
- 16. The method of claim 10, wherein said cervical edge mask is based at least in part on (i) a ratio of a first reflectance intensity to a second reflectance intensity and (ii) a ratio of a first fluorescence intensity to a second fluorescence intensity.
- 17. The method of claim 10, wherein said cervical edge mask comprises the metric BB(450 nm)·BB(700 nm)/BB(540 nm)<0.30 OR F(530 nm)/F(410 nm)>4.75.
- 18. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one spectral mask comprises a mucus mask.
- 19. The method of claim 18, wherein said mucus mask is based at least in part on a ratio of a first reflectance intensity at a first wavelength to a second reflectance intensity at a second wavelength.
- 20. The method of claim 19, wherein said first wavelength and said second wavelength maximize a discrimination function comprising the ratio.
- 21. The method of claim 19, wherein said first wavelength is about 456 nm and said second wavelength is about 542 nm.
- 22. The method of claim 18, wherein said applying step comprises comparing the ratio BB(456 nm)/BB(542 nm) with a threshold of about 1.1.
- 23. The method of claim 18, wherein said applying step comprises comparing the ratio BB(594 nm)/BB(610 nm) with a threshold of about 0.74.
- 24. The method of claim 18, wherein said mucus mask comprises the metric BB(456 nm)/BB(542 nm)<1.06 OR BB(594 nm)/BB(610 nm)>0.74.
- 25. A method of identifying a region of healthy tissue, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) determining a first ratio of members selected from a set of spectral data corresponding to a region of tissue; (b) determining a second ratio of members selected from said set of spectral data; and (c) evaluating a metric based at least in part on said first ratio and said second ratio to determine whether said region of tissue is healthy tissue.
- 26. The method of claim 25, wherein said first ratio is a ratio of a first fluorescence intensity at a first wavelength to a second fluorescence intensity at a second wavelength.
- 27. The method of claim 26, wherein said second ratio is a ratio of a third fluorescence intensity at a third wavelength to a reflectance intensity at said third wavelength.
- 28. The method of claim 27, wherein said third wavelength is about 430 nm.
- 29. The method of claim 28, wherein said evaluating step comprises comparing said second ratio with a threshold of about 600 ct/μJ, where the mean fluorescence intensity of normal squamous tissue is about 70 ct/μJ at about 450 nm.
- 30. The method of claim 26, wherein said first wavelength is about 450 nm and said second wavelength is about 566 nm.
- 31. The method of claim 30, wherein said evaluating step comprises comparing said first ratio with a threshold of about 4.1.
- 32. The method of claim 26, wherein said first wavelength and said second wavelength are chosen to maximize a fluorescence intensity difference due to a collagen peak.
- 33. The method of claim 25, wherein said metric comprises F(430 nm)/BB(430 nm)>600 ct/μJ OR F(450 nm)/F(566 nm)>4.1 OR F(460)>{115·F(505 nm)/F(410 nm)−40}, where the mean fluorescence intensity of normal squamous tissue is about 70 ct/μJ at about 450 nm.
- 34. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of filtering said set of spectral data using a necrosis mask.
- 35. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of filtering said set of spectral data using at least one image mask.
- 36. The method of claim 25, wherein said image mask is selected from the group consisting of a region-of-interest mask, a smoke tube mask, and a speculum mask.
- 37. A method of identifying a region of necrotic tissue, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) determining a first fluorescence intensity from a set of spectral data corresponding to a region of tissue; and (b) evaluating a metric based at least in part on said first fluorescence intensity in order to determine whether said region of tissue is necrotic tissue.
- 38. The method of claim 37, wherein said first fluorescence intensity is indicative of a porphyrin peak.
- 39. The method of claim 37, wherein said evaluating step comprises determining whether said first fluorescence intensity exceeds a first threshold.
- 40. The method of claim 39, wherein said first fluorescence intensity corresponds to a wavelength of about 635 nm.
- 41. The method of claim 40, wherein said first threshold is about 20 ct/μJ, where the mean fluorescence intensity of normal squamous tissue is about 70 ct/μJ at about 450 nm.
- 42. The method of claim 39, further comprising the step of determining a second fluorescence intensity and a third fluorescence intensity, and wherein said evaluating step comprises determining whether a ratio of said second fluorescence intensity and said third fluorescence intensity exceeds a second threshold.
- 43. The method of claim 42, wherein said ratio of said second fluorescence intensity and said third fluorescence intensity is indicative of an FAD/NADH ratio.
- 44. The method of claim 42, wherein said second fluorescence intensity corresponds to a wavelength of about 510 nm, and wherein said third fluorescence intensity corresponds to a wavelength of about 450 nm.
- 45. The method of claim 42, wherein said second threshold is about 1.0.
- 46. The method of claim 37, wherein said metric comprises F(510 nm)/F(450 nm)>1.0 AND F(635 nm)/F(605 nm)>1.3 AND F(635 nm)/F(660 nm)>1.3 AND F(635 nm)>20 ct/μJ, where the mean fluorescence intensity of normal squamous tissue is about 70 ct/μJ at about 450 nm.
- 47. The method of claim 37, further comprising the step of filtering said set of spectral data using at least one image mask.
- 48. The method of claim 37, wherein said image mask is selected from the group consisting of a smoke tube mask and a speculum mask.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/243,535, filed Sep. 13, 2002, which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/394,696, filed Jul. 9, 2002. Additionally, the present application is related to the following commonly-owned applications: Attorney Docket No. MDS-035, entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Characterization of Tissue Samples”; Attorney Docket No. MDS-035A, entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Displaying Diagnostic Data”; Attorney Docket No. MDS-035B, entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Visually Enhancing Images”; Attorney Docket No. MDS-035D, entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Characterization of Tissue Samples”; Attorney Docket No. MDS-035E, entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Processing Image Data for Use in Tissue Characterization”; Attorney Docket No. MDS-035G, entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Evaluating Image Focus”; and MDS-035H, entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Calibrating Spectral Data,” all of which are filed on even date herewith.
Provisional Applications (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60394696 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
|
60394696 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10243535 |
Sep 2002 |
US |
Child |
10418415 |
Apr 2003 |
US |
Parent |
10295794 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
Child |
10418415 |
Apr 2003 |
US |