1. An absorbent article comprising an absorbent core, a body facing liquid receiving surface and a liquid impervious garment facing surface, said article having a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction and being defined by a pair of longitudinal side edges and a pair of transverse side edges, said article comprising, as seen in its longitudinal direction, a front region, a back region and a crotch region therebetween, said article further comprising substantially longitudinally extending leak barriers, each of said leak barriers having a free laterally inward elasticized side and a laterally outward side, the elasticized side of the leak barrier being raised from the inner cover of the absorbent article,
wherein said inner and outer leak barriers are located alongside each side of the absorbent core, said inner and outer leak barriers being spaced from each other in the transverse direction of the article, wherein the inner leak barriers extend at least along the part of the crotch region having the smallest width in the transverse direction, and along a length of at least 5 cm, and the outer leak barriers extend along at least a part of the front region or the back region of the article, while at least a part of the crotch region along which said inner leak barriers extend is free from raised outer leak barriers.
2. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said inner leak barriers extend along a length of at least 8 cm.
3. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 1,
wherein at least a substantial part of the front and back regions are free from said inner leak barriers.
4. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 3,
wherein said inner leak barriers extend along a length of no more than 30 cm.
5. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 1,
wherein there is an overlap in the longitudinal direction between the inner and outer leak barriers of between 0.5 cm and 10 cm.
6. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the inner leak barriers have a height as measured from the free laterally inward elasticized side edge and the opposite laterally outward side edge attached to the inner cover of between 1 and 5 cm.
7. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the outer leak barriers have a height as measured from the free laterally inward elasticized side edge and the opposite laterally outward side edge attached to the inner cover of between 1 and 8 cm.
8. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the laterally inward elasticized side of the outer leak barriers extend along at least part of the crotch region, but is deactivated in at least part of said region by being attached to the inner cover of the article, thus preventing it to raise.
9. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 8,
wherein the laterally inward elasticized side of the outer leak barriers extend along the crotch region in said deactivated state over a length at least 5 cm, in the longitudinal direction of the article.
10. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the absorbent core in the crotch region has a smallest width in the transverse direction of no more than 20 cm.
11. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the absorbent core has a largest width in the front or back region which is at least 20% larger than the smallest width of the absorbent core in the crotch region of the article.
12. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the outer leak barriers are present in both the front and the back regions of the article.
13. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said article is a pant type absorbent article, said article having a core region comprising an absorbent core, and a chassis surrounding the core region, said chassis comprising front, back and waist regions, wherein the core region is located at least in the crotch region of the article, a liquid impermeable outer cover is arranged at least in the core region on the garment-facing side of the absorbent core and a liquid permeable inner cover is arranged at least in the core region on the wearer-facing side of the absorbent core, and said article in at least a part of the chassis region comprises an outer coversheet in the form of an elastic web material.
14. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 13,
wherein the inner and outer leak barriers are arranged in the core region of the article.
15. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 13,
wherein the surface area of the absorbent core amounts to no more than 50% of the total surface area of the article, as measured in a flat state of the article.
16. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 2, wherein said inner leak barriers extend along a length of at least 15 cm.
17. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 4, wherein said inner leak barriers extend along a length of no more than 25 cm.
18. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 5, wherein the overlap in the longitudinal direction between the inner and outer leak barriers is between 1 cm and 5 cm.
19. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 10, wherein the smallest width is no more than 18 cm.
20. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 11, wherein the largest width in the front or back region which is at least 30% larger than the smallest width of the absorbent core in the crotch region of the article.
21. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 13, wherein the article is a pant diaper, a sanitary pant or an incontinence pant.
22. The absorbent article as claimed in claim 15, wherein the surface area of the absorbent core amounts to no more than 40% of the total surface area of the article, as measured in a flat state of the article.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of focusing an optical instrument on a tissue sample, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) projecting a plurality of light spots onto a tissue sample;
(b) superimposing a plurality of graphical focusing elements in a visual field comprising said tissue sample; and
(c) aligning a subset of said light spots substantially within said graphical focusing elements, thereby focusing said optical instrument on said tissue sample; and
(d) acquiring diagnostic optical data with said optical instrument following said aligning step.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said projecting step comprises projecting a plurality of laser beams toward said tissue sample.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein laser beams strike said tissue sample at different angles.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein each member of said plurality of laser beams strikes said tissue sample at a fixed angle with respect to an objective axis.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein said projecting step comprises projecting four light spots.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein said focusing elements are rings.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said superimposing step comprises superimposing said plurality of focusing elements in a sequence of images of said tissue.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein said sequence of images comprises real-time video images.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein said superimposing step comprises displaying said plurality of focusing rings in a viewfinder.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein said tissue sample comprises in-situ tissue.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein said aligning step comprises adjusting a component of an optical instrument used to visualize said tissue.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein said component is a probe.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein said diagnostic optical data comprises reflectance spectral data and fluorescence spectral data.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein said tissue sample is in vivo.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein said optical data is acquired within a predetermined window of time following application of an agent to said tissue sample.
16. A method of focusing an optical instrument on a tissue sample, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) projecting a plurality of light spots onto a tissue sample;
(b) superimposing a plurality of graphical focusing elements in a visual field comprising said tissue sample;
(c) aligning a subset of said light spots substantially within said graphical focusing elements, thereby focusing said optical instrument on said tissue sample; and
(d) automatically validating an alignment of said subset of light spots within said graphical focusing elements; and
(e) acquiring diagnostic data with said optical instrument following said validating step.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein said projecting step comprises projecting a plurality of laser beams toward said tissue sample.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein said validating step comprises detecting locations of said subset of light spots.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein said validating step comprises using a measure of greenness to detect said locations.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein said measure of greenness is expressed as GE=G\u2212R\u221215, where GE is the measure of greenness, G is a green channel value, and R is a red channel value.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein said validating step comprises using a measure of blueness to detect said locations.
22. The method of claim 18, wherein said validating step comprises using a measure of a color corresponding to a color of said light spots to detect said locations.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein an image of said tissue is enhanced to increase contrast between said light spots and surrounding tissue.
24. The method of claim 18, wherein said validating step comprises comparing said locations with predetermined positions.
25. The method of claim 18, wherein said validating step comprises applying a decision rule based at least in part on said locations.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein said decision rule is based at least in part on a number of light spots detected.
27. The method of claim 16, wherein said validating step comprises performing iterative dynamic thresholding.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein said validating step comprises performing morphological processing between thresholding iterations.
29. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of: (e) obtaining diagnostic optical data from said tissue sample after said validating step, wherein said obtaining occurs within an optimal data acquisition window.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein said optimal data acquisition window is a period of time beginning about 30 seconds after an application of a contrast agent to said tissue sample and ending about 130 seconds after said application.