초록 ▼

A system and method for determining a remaining life estimate of the remaining battery life of a battery of an implantable medical device (IMD). The IMD battery preferably exhibits a highly reproducible monotonically decreasing discharge curve. The estimated remaining life estimates are derived by p

A system and method for determining a remaining life estimate of the remaining battery life of a battery of an implantable medical device (IMD). The IMD battery preferably exhibits a highly reproducible monotonically decreasing discharge curve. The estimated remaining life estimates are derived by periodically measuring battery voltage, and estimating the estimated past current drain of the IMD comprising an average of the sum of the quiescent current drain and therapy delivery current drain, and determining the estimated remaining longevity from the measured voltage and the estimated past current drain.

대표청구항 ▼

A system and method for determining a remaining life estimate of the remaining battery life of a battery of an implantable medical device (IMD). The IMD battery preferably exhibits a highly reproducible monotonically decreasing discharge curve. The estimated remaining life estimates are derived by p

A system and method for determining a remaining life estimate of the remaining battery life of a battery of an implantable medical device (IMD). The IMD battery preferably exhibits a highly reproducible monotonically decreasing discharge curve. The estimated remaining life estimates are derived by periodically measuring battery voltage, and estimating the estimated past current drain of the IMD comprising an average of the sum of the quiescent current drain and therapy delivery current drain, and determining the estimated remaining longevity from the measured voltage and the estimated past current drain. S-5755736, 19980500, Gillberg et al., 607/004; US-5978700, 19991100, Nigam, 600/518; US-6272377, 20010800, Sweeney et al., 600/515 having a plurality of wavelengths that are absorbed by the plurality of contrast enhancing agents. 12. As The method of claim 1, wherein the contrast agent is selected from the group consisting of: fluorescent materials, phosphorescent materials, indocyanines, fluoresceins, hematoporphyrins, fluoresdamines, photodynamic dyes, delta 1,2 bicyclo [4,4,0] and delta.sup 1,6 bicyclo [4,4,0] functional dyes, iodine, and weak acids and bases. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the contrast enhancing agent is linked to a targeting agent. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more optical properties are selected from the group consisting of: reflection, refraction, diffraction, absorption, scattering, birefringence, refractive index, and Kerr effect. 15. The method of claim 1, for screening a tissue sample for the presence of cancerous tissue. 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the control data set is not derived from the area of interest. 17. The method of claim 1, for screening a tissue sample selected from the group consisting of: breast tissue, uterine tissue, cervical tissue, intestinal tissue, colorectal tissue, esophageal tissue, skin, prostate tissue, lymph tissue, bone, and brain tissue. 18. The method of claim 1, comprising topically administering the contrast enhancing agent. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the contrast agent is selected from the group consisting of: iodine and weak acids and bases. 20. The method of claim 1, comprising administering the contrast enhancing agent intravenously, subcutaneously, intraperitonally, or intraarterially. 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the control data set represents one or more optical properties of a plurality of spatially resolved areas within a control area of interest believed to contain normal tissue of the same tissue type as the area of interest. 22. The method of claim 1, comprising acquiring a plurality of data sets representing one or more optical properties of spatially resolved areas within the area of interest at preselected time intervals subsequent to administration of the contrast enhancing agent. 23. The method of claim 1, wherein the area of interest is an area of the patient believed to contain cancerous tissue, and the control data set is derived from a different area of the patient believed to contain normal tissue. 24. The method of claim 1, wherein the control data set represents one or more corresponding optical properties empirically determined to be indicative of normal tissue. 25. The method of claim 1, wherein the control data set represents one or more corresponding optical properties empirically determined to be indicative of an identified type of cancerous tissue. 26. The method of claim 1 for spatially locating cancerous tissue in an area of interest prior to removing a tissue sample. 27. The method of claim 1 for monitoring the progression or recession of cancerous tissue in the patient. 28. The method of claim 1, wherein the illuminating of the area of interest is by short pulse or pulse time illumination. 29. The method of claim 1, wherein the illuminating separates out optical properties. 30. The method of claim 1, comprising producing a comparison data set by the differences in optical properties and displaying the comparison data set as a three dimensional image. 31. The method of claim 1, comprising producing a comparison data set by the differences in optical properties at each of two or more wavelengths of emr. 32. The method of claim 1, further comprising producing a comparison data set by differences in the optical properties and processing the comparison data set to provide an enhanced contrast color image. 33. A method for in situ grading and characterizing a cancerous tissue in a patient, comprising: positioning one or more illumination source and detector arrays in contact with the patient; illuminating an area of interest lying under an exterior surface with the illumination source array(s) emitting electromagnetic radiation (emu) having at least one wavelength which interacts with a contrast enhancing agent; administering the contrast enhancing agent to the patient; detecting one or more optical properties of spatially identifiable areas within the area of interest with the detector array(s) subsequent to administration of the contrast enhancing agent; and comparing the optical properties of the spatially identifiable areas within the area of interest subsequent to administration of the contrast enhancing agent to either one of corresponding optical properties of different spatially resolved areas of the area of interest or a control data set representing a corresponding one or more optical properties of tissue of different spatial areas identified by type and/or condition, whereby differences in the optical properties are characteristic of cancerous tissue having different grades and characters. 34. The method of claim 1 or 33, wherein the contrast agent is selected from the group consisting of: fluorescent materials, phosphorescent materials, indocyanines, fluoresceins, fluoresdamines, delta 1,2 bicyclo and delta.sup 1,6 bicyclo functional dyes, iodine, and weak acids and bases. 35. The method of claim 1 or 33, wherein the contrast agent is a nonfluorescent material. 36. The method of claim 33, wherein the illuminating of the area of interest is by penetrating the exterior surface overlying the area of interest with the emr. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the array of optical sources or an associated optical element contacts the exterior surface in proximity to the underlying area of interest. 38. The method of claim 36, wherein the exterior surface is skin, tissue, bone, or dura. 39. An in situ method for assessing the safety or efficacy of a treatment agent or treatment regimen for treating a cancerous condition in a patient by screening a patient tissue sample at one or more preselected times following administration of the treatment agent or treatment regimen, each screening comprising: positioning one or more illumination source and detector arrays in contact with the patient; illuminating an area of interest in the patient believed to contain cancerous tissue with the illumination source array(s) emitting electromagnetic radiation (emr) having at least one wavelength which interacts with a contrast enhancing agent; administering the contrast enhancing agent to the patient; detecting one or more optical properties of spatially identifiable areas within the area of interest with the detector array(s) subsequent to administration of the contrast enhancing agent; comparing the optical properties of the spatially identifiable areas within the area of interest subsequent to administration of the contrast enhancing agent to either one of different spatially resolved areas of the area of interest or a control data set representing a corresponding one or more optical properties of tissue identified by type and/or condition, whereby differences in the optical properties are characteristic of normal and cancerous tissue; and determining whether the treatment agent or treatment regimen is safe or effective. 40. A system for in situ detection of tissue having optical properties different from the optical properties of surrounding tissue in a patient, comprising: array of optical sources for illuminating an area of interest with electromagnetic radiation (emr) having at least one wavelength of from 450 nm to 2500 nm; an array of optical detectors for detecting and acquiring a data set representing one or more optical properties of spatially resolved areas within the area of interest; a central data processing unit in communication with the optical source and the optical detector for receiving the data set from the optical detector(s), comparing the optical properties of spatially identifiable areas within the area of interest to either one of different spatially resolved areas of the area of interest or a control data set representing one or more corresponding optical properties of tissue identified by type and/or condition, and producing output data identifying differences in the optical properties of spatially resolved areas within the acquired data set, or identifying differences in the optical properties of the acquired data set and the control data set; and a display unit for displaying the output data. 41. An optical system according to claim 40, wherein the central data processing unit has stored therein a plurality of control data sets, each of the control data sets being identified by at least one of tissue type and tissue condition. 42. An optical system according to claim 40, for in situ detection and spatial localization of normal and abnormal tissue in a patient. 43. An optical system according to claim 40, wherein the optical detectors are selected from at least one of photodiodes, photo multiplier tubes, photon intensifiers, cameras, video cameras, photon sensitive semiconductor devices, and CCD cameras. 44. An optical system according to claim 40, additionally comprising at least one fiber optic strand in communication with at least one optical source. 45. An optical system according to claim 40, wherein the optical sources and detectors are mounted on an invasive or semi-invasive instrument. 46. An optical system according to claim 40, wherein the optical sources and detectors are mounted on a biopsy instrument. 47. An optical system according to claim 40, wherein the data set acquired by the optical detector(s) is analog and the data set is converted to a digital form prior to comparing differences in the optical properties in the central data processing unit. 48. An optical system according to claim 40, wherein the optical sources provide continuous illumination during data acquisition. 49. An optical system according to claim 40, wherein the optical sources provide non-continuous illumination during data acquisition. 50. An optical system according to claim 40, wherein the optical sources provide non-continuous illumination by modulating at least one of the frequency and the phase of the illumination during data acquisition. 51. An optical system according to claim 40, wherein the output data is in the form of a graph. 52. An optical system according to claim 40, wherein the output data is in the form of an image. 53. An optical system according to claim 40, comprising at least one fiber optic stand in communication with at least one optical detector. 54. A method for screening a tissue sample of a patient to spatially locate cancerous tissue in an area of interest underlying skin, tissue, bone, or dura, comprising: positioning one or more illumination source and detector arrays in contact with the patient; illuminating the area of interest with the illumination source array emitting electromagnetic radiation (emr) having at least two different wavelengths which interact with a contrast enhancing agent; administering the contrast enhancing agent to the patient; detecting one or more optical properties of spatially resolved areas within the area of interest for each wavelength with the detector arrays subsequent to administration of the contrast enhancing agent; and comparing the optical properties of the spatially identifiable areas within the area of interest subsequent to administration of the contrast enhancing agent to a control data set representing one or more optical properties of the area of interest corresponding to each wavelength, whereby differences in the optical properties are characteristic of normal and cancerous tissue. 55. The method of claim 54, wherein by the comparing, a first comparison set and second comparison set are obtained for each wavelength and further comprising obtaining an enhanced comparison data set by ratioing a first comparison set to a second comparison set. 56. The method of claim 54, wherein three-dimensional information is obtained of the area of interest.