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System and method for attenuating the effect of ambient light on an optical sensor
| Details |
Inventors: Colvin, Arthur Earl; Zerwekh, Paul Samuel; Lesho, Jeffrey C.; Lynn, Robert William; Lorenz, Carrie R.; O'Connor, Casey J.; Walters, Steven J.;
Assignee: Sensors for Medicine and Science, Inc. (Germantown, MD)
Primary Examiner: Porta; David
Assistant Examiner: Taningco; Marcus
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck
The present invention provides systems and methods for attenuating the effect of ambient light on optical sensors and for measuring and compensating quantitatively for the ambient light. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention provides systems and methods for attenuating the effect of ambient light on optical sensors and for measuring and compensating quantitatively for the ambient light.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an optical sensor having features that attenuate the amount of ambient light that reaches the optical sensor's photodetectors.
The features can be used together or separately.
For example, in some embodiments, the present invention provides an optical sensor wherein the circuit board that is used to electrically connect the electrical components of the sensor is made from an opaque material (e.
g.
, opaque ferrite), as opposed to the conventional aluminum oxide ceramic circuit board.
In some embodiments, the photodetectors of the optical sensor are mounted to the bottom side of a circuit board and holes are made in the circuit board to provide a way for light from the indicator molecules to reach the photodetectors.
In another aspect, the present invention provides methods for using and implanting an optical sensor, which methods, used together or separately, reduce the effect of ambient light on the optical sensor.
For example, in one aspect the present invention provides a method that includes the following steps: illuminating indicator molecules, thereby causing the indicator molecules to emit light; determining the amount of light reaching a photodetector at a point in time when the indicator molecules are illuminated, thereby determining the sum of the amount of ambient light and the light emitted from the indicator molecules reaching the photodetector; ceasing illuminating the indicator molecules; after ceasing illuminating the indicator molecules, determining the amount of light reaching the photodetector, thereby determining the amount of ambient light reaching the photodetector; and determining the amount of light emitted from the indicator molecules that reached the photodetector by subtracting the second determined amount of light from the first determined amount of light
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Lighting 
