What is claimed is:
1. An image reading apparatus for reading an image on a document, comprising:
a platen having a reading position;
a frame attached to the platen for supporting the same substantially vertically; and
a scanning device situated adjacent to the platen for reading the image on the document held at the reading position, said scanning device moving vertically along the platen.
2. An image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said scanning device is an integrated scanning unit including a light source for irradiating light to the document; reflecting means for reflecting the light from the document; collecting means for collecting the light from said reflecting device; and converting means for converting the light collected by the collecting means to an electrical signal.
3. An image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said scanning device has a stand-by position at a portion lower than a center of the platen and staying at the stand-by position when the scanning device is not operating.
4. An image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a supply tray disposed adjacent to the platen for storing the document, a transfer device disposed adjacent to said supply tray for transferring the document from the supply tray to the reading position on the platen, and a discharge tray disposed adjacent to the transfer device for receiving the document transferred from the reading position, one of the supply tray and the discharge tray being positioned at an upper portion of said transfer device and the other of the supply tray and the discharge tray being positioned at a lower portion thereof.
5. An image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said scanning device reads the image while moving upward.
6. An image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a first rotating shaft and a second rotating shaft disposed at an upper and a lower portion of the frame with a space therebetween, and an endless belt arranged between said first rotating shaft and second rotating shaft and holding said scanning device, said endless belt being rotated by rotation of one of the first and second rotating shafts so that the scanning device moves vertically.
7. An image reading apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a terminal reference position provided in a vicinity of a lower end of the platen for defining a position for stopping the document at the reading position.
8. An image reading apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said transfer device is disposed adjacent to the platen to constitute a transfer path between the transfer device and the platen, said transfer device being moved to open said transfer path when it is necessary.
9. An image reading apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a rotating shaft provided at a lower portion of said transfer device and extended perpendicular to a document transfer direction, said transfer device being rotated around said rotating shaft to thereby open said transfer path when it is necessary.
10. An image reading apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a stop device disposed adjacent the platen for stopping the document at said terminal reference position, said stop device being able to advance into and retreat from said transfer path.
11. An image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said scanning device has a position where the scanning device starts to read the image on the document at a vicinity of a lower end of the platen.
12. An image reading apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said supply tray and discharge tray are disposed substantially perpendicular to the platen.
13. An image reading apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a supply device disposed adjacent to the supply tray for transferring the document from the supply tray to the transfer device and having a curved supply transfer path, and a discharge device disposed adjacent to the discharge tray for transferring the document to the discharge tray from the transfer device and having a curved discharge transfer path.
14. An image reading apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said supply tray is disposed at the upper portion of the transfer device and said discharge tray is disposed at the lower portion of the transfer device.
15. An image reading apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a second supply tray disposed above the supply tray for supplying the document.
16. An image reading apparatus for reading an image on a document, comprising:
a platen having a first reading position and a second reading position situated above the first reading position;
a frame attached to the platen for supporting the same substantially vertically;
an insertion port attached to the frame for inserting the document located above the second reading position;
an exposure device disposed adjacent to the platen for irradiating light on the document and being arranged to move along the platen vertically;
reading means disposed adjacent to the platen for receiving the light reflected from the document to read the image on the document; and
a transfer device attached to the frame for moving the document along the platen, said transfer device being actuated such that the transfer device is stopped after transferring the document to the first reading position along the platen and the exposure device is moved to thereby read the document, and said exposure device is stopped at the second reading position and said transfer device with the document is moved to thereby read the document.
17. An image reading apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said platen is formed of a sheet of contact glass.
18. An image reading apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising a selection device as to whether the document inserted through the insertion port is read at the first reading position or the second reading position.
19. An image reading apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising an electrical device electrically connected to the selection device for sending an electrical signal for selecting whether the document inserted through the insertion port is read at the first reading position or the second reading position.
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 determining a distribution of fluorescence emission sources in patient in an operating room, the method comprising:
illuminating a surgery site of the patient through a hollow inner portion of a support member with structured illumination light, and obtaining an image of the structured illumination light on the surgery site;
illuminating the surgery site at a plurality of different positions by sequentially directing excitation light through different optical fibers, wherein each one of the optical fibers extends through a solid outer portion of the support member, and obtaining a plurality of images of fluorescence emission from the surgery site, wherein each one of the plurality of fluorescence emission images corresponds to illumination through a different one of the optical fibers;
determining a three-dimensional surface representation of at least a portion of the surgery site based on the image of the structured illumination light on the surgery site;
determining a distribution of fluorescence emission in a boundary region inside a surface of the surgery site based on the plurality of images of fluorescence emission and the three-dimensional surface representation; and
determining a distribution of fluorescence emission sources internal to the surgery site based on the distribution of fluorescence emission in the boundary region by performing a tomographic reconstruction based on a photon diffusion model.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising illuminating the surgery site with pulsed excitation light, and synchronizing the obtaining of the plurality of fluorescence emission images with the pulsed excitation light.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
overlaying an image of the distribution of fluorescence emission sources internal to the surgery site with the three-dimensional surface representation to form an overlay image; and
displaying the overlay image on a display unit.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of different illumination positions is on a first side of the surgery site, the method further comprising obtaining each one of the plurality of fluorescence emission images on a second side of the surgery site different from the first side.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of different illumination positions is on a common side of the surgery site, the method further comprising obtaining each one of the plurality of fluorescence emission images from the common side of the surgery site.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
unmixing spectral contributions from autofluorescence to the plurality of fluorescence emission images prior to determining the distribution of fluorescence emission sources internal to the surgery site.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising unmixing spectral contributions from operating room lights to the plurality of fluorescence emission images prior to determining the distribution of fluorescence emission sources internal to the surgery site.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the distribution of fluorescence emission sources internal to the surgery site in a period of 1 minute or less.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising subtracting autofluorescence spectral contributions from the plurality of fluorescence emission images prior to determining the distribution of fluorescence emission in the boundary region.
10. An imaging apparatus for determining a distribution of fluorescence emission sources in a patient in an operating room, the apparatus comprising:
a support member comprising an outer solid portion and a hollow interior portion;
a plurality of optical fibers, wherein the excitation light that extend through the outer solid portion of the support member;
one or more excitation light sources configured to provide excitation light at a surgery site of the patient by directing the excitation light through the plurality of optical fibers;
a structured light source configured to generate structured illumination light;
a photographic imager for obtaining one or more images of the surgery site;
a fluorescence imager for detecting fluorescent emission from the surgery site in response to the excitation light; and
a controller configured to:
activate the structured light source to illuminate the surgery site through the hollow portion of the support member with structured illumination light, and to obtain an image of the structured illumination light on the surgery site using the photographic imager;
activate the one or more excitation light sources to sequentially direct the excitation light through each one of the plurality of optical fibers in turn to illuminate a different position at the surgery site, and to obtain a plurality of images of fluorescence emission from the surgery site using the fluorescence imager, wherein each one of the plurality of fluorescence emission images corresponds to illumination through a different one of the optical fibers;
determine a three-dimensional surface representation of at least a portion of the surgery site based on the image of the structured illumination on the surgery site;
determine a distribution of fluorescence emission in a boundary region inside a surface of the surgery site based on the plurality of images of fluorescence emission and the three-dimensional surface representation; and
determine a distribution of fluorescence emission sources internal to the surgery site based on the distribution of fluorescence emission in the boundary region by performing a tomographic reconstruction based on a photon diffusion model.
11. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to synchronize the obtaining of the plurality of fluorescence emission images with pulsed activation of the one or more excitation light sources.
12. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to:
overlay an image of the distribution of fluorescence emission sources internal to the surgery site with the three-dimensional surface representation to form an overlay image; and
display the overlay image on a display unit.
13. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more excitation light sources sequentially direct the excitation light to illuminate different positions on a first side of the surgery site, and wherein the controller is configured to obtain the plurality of fluorescence emission images from a second side of the surgery site different from the first side.
14. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more excitation light sources sequentially direct the excitation light to illuminate different positions on a common side of the surgery site, and wherein the controller is configured to obtain the plurality of fluorescence emission images from the common side of the surgery site.
15. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to unmix spectral contributions from autofluorescence to the plurality of fluorescence emission images prior to determining the distribution of fluorescence emission sources internal to the surgery site.
16. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to unmix spectral contributions from operating room lights to the plurality of fluorescence emission images prior to determining the distribution of fluorescence emission sources internal to the surgery site.
17. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more excitation light sources are movable, and wherein the controller is configured to:
activate one of the one or more excitation light sources;
sequentially translate the activated excitation light source so that each one of the optical fibers is coupled in turn to the activated light source to sequentially illuminate the different positions at the surgery site.
18. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to determine the distribution of fluorescence emission sources internal to the surgery site in a period of 1 minute or less.
19. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to subtract autofluorescence spectral contributions from the plurality of fluorescence emission images prior to determining the distribution of fluorescence emission in the boundary region.
20. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the support member is a ring.
21. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the support member has a cross-sectional shape in a form of at least one of a triangle, an oval, a square, a rectangle, and a polygon.