1. An apparatus for noninvasive measurement of a concentration of at least one substance from the conjunctiva, said apparatus comprising:
a mid-infrared radiation detector configured to detect mid-infrared radiation emitted from the conjunctiva, said-mid-infrared radiation from said conjunctiva containing a radiation signature of said at least one substance, said mid-infrared detector producing a signal representative of said mid-infrared radiation signature,
a processor including a memory storing a plurality of predetermined reference values and a processing circuit for
receiving said signal representative of said mid-infrared radiation signature from said conjunctiva,
comparing said signal representative of said mid-infrared radiation signature from said conjunctiva with one of said plurality of reference values, and
determining the concentration of the at least one substance based upon said comparison, and
a display for reporting the concentration of said at least one substance from the conjunctiva.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said at least one substance includes at least one of glucose, ethanol and cholesterol.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one filter for selecting a radiation wavelength.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said at least one filter has a mid-infrared bandwidth centered on about 9,400 nm corresponding to the radiation signature of glucose.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said at least one filter has a mid-infrared bandwidth centered on about 9,900 nm corresponding to the radiation signature of ethanol.
6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said at least one filter has a mid-infrared bandwidth centered on about 8,300 nm corresponding to the radiation signature of cholesterol.
7. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said at least one filter passes mid-infrared radiation having wavelengths between about 9,000 nanometers and about 11,000 nanometers.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a cooling device is used to increase a temperature gradient between a cold junction and a hot junction of an infrared sensor of said mid-infrared detector.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said plurality of reference values includes a radiation wavelength corresponding to the concentration of said at least one substance.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an infrared spectrometer.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said display includes at least one of a numerical display of a value of said concentration and an audio device for audibly communicating a value of said concentration.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a housing for the detector and the processor, said housing is one of a pen device and a wired handle to be held by a hand of a subject so that the housing is spaced away from the conjunctiva and measurements are performed without contacting the conjunctiva.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a housing for the detector and the processor, said housing is a contact device for contacting the conjunctiva during measurement.
14. Amethod for noninvasive of at least one substance from the conjunctiva, said method comprising the steps of:
detecting mid-infrared radiation emitted from said conjunctiva, said mid-infrared radiation containing a radiation a radiation signature of said at least one substance from the conjunctiva,
determining the radiation signature of at least one substance from said mid-infrared radiation from said conjunctiva, and
determining a concentration of said at least one substance present in the conjunctiva from the mid-infrared radiation signature from the conjunctiva.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising a step of selecting a desired wavelength of said mid-infrared radiation.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein said mid-infrared radiation comprises mid-infrared radiation having wavelengths between about 9,000 nanometers and about 11,000 nanometers.
17. The method of claim 14, wherein said step for determining the concentration of said at least one substance includes the step of comparing the detected radiation signature from said mid-infrared radiation with a plurality of predetermined reference values.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein said plurality of predetermined reference values includes a radiation wavelength corresponding to the concentration of said at least one substance.
19. The method of claim 14, wherein said at least one substance includes at least one of glucose, ethanol and cholesterol.
20. The method of claim 14, wherein said mid-infrared radiation comprises mid-infrared radiation having wavelengths between about 4,000 nanometers and about 14,000 nanometers.
21. The method of claim 14, wherein said detecting step includes detecting mid-infrared radiation from said conjunctiva without contact with the surface of said conjunctiva.
22. A method of determining an analyte concentration in a tissue of a subject, the subject including an eye with an ocular surface and a conjunctiva surface, comprising the steps:
a. detecting naturally occurring mid-infrared radiation emitted from the conjunctiva without contact with the ocular surface using a non-invasive instrument comprising a mid-infrared detector;
b. comparing a radiation signature of said mid-infrared radiation to a radiation signature of mid-infrared radiation corresponding to an analyte concentration; and
c. analyzing said radiation signature of said mid-infrared radiation from said subject to determine said analyte concentration in a tissue of said subject.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein said analyte is selected from the group consisting of metabolic compounds or substances, carbohydrates, sugars, glucose, proteins, peptides, amino acids, fats, fatty acids, triglycerides, polysaccharides, alcohols, ethanol, toxins, hormones, vitamins, bacteria-related substances, fungus-related substances, parasite-related substances, pharmaceutical compounds, non-pharmaceutical compounds, pro-drugs, drugs, and any precursor, metabolite, degradation product or surrogate marker.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein said analyte is glucose.
25. The method of claim 22, wherein said naturally occurring mid-infrared radiation comprises infrared radiation having wavelengths between about 2.5 microns and about 25.0 microns.
26. The method of claim 22, wherein said detecting step further comprises selecting and detecting desired wavelengths of said naturally occurring mid-infrared radiation.
27. The method of claim 22, wherein said comparing step and said analyzing step further comprise using a microprocessor.
28. A method of downloading and storing a subject’s measured analyte concentration, comprising the steps of: a. measuring said analyte concentration according to the method of claim 22, using a non-invasive mid-infrared detecting instrument having a communications interface; b. connecting said instrument through said communications interface to a computer system having a computer processor, a computer program which executes in said computer processor, and an analogous communications interface; and c. downloading from said instrument to said computer system said measured analyte concentrations.
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 communication system for use in a dental treatment facility comprising a plurality of operatories, each of the operatories comprising a dental chair for supporting a patient, wherein a dentist moves between operatories to perform dental procedures on the patients within the respective operatories, the communication system comprising:
a plurality of display devices each adapted for positioning in one of the dental operatories so that patients in the dental operatories may view respective display devices while positioned in respective dental chairs, the display devices each displaying at least one user interface concurrently depicting a plurality of textual phrases that are commonly spoken by patients to dentists, including at least a request to rinse, a request to swallow, a Yes response, and a No response;
a plurality of input device each associated with one of the plurality of operatories, the input devices adapted for allowing patients to select textual phrases displayed on the display devices in the respective operatories;
a data structure storing a plurality of sound files, wherein each of the textual phrases is associated with one or more of the sound files, the associated one or more sound files comprising audible representations of the respective textual phrases that are prerecorded and are not in the voice of the patient;
a processor configured to execute software code in order to cause the communication system to perform operations comprising:
determining a dental operatory in which the dentist is currently positioned;
selecting from said data structure one or more of the sound files associated with a textual phrase selected by the patient, wherein the textual phrases include one or more phrases that are commonly spoken in casual conversations outside of a dental operatory; and
initiating playback of the selected one or more sound files associated with the selected textual phrase on an audio headset worn by the dentist so that the dentist hears the textual phrase selected by the patient in the determined operatory verbally spoken.
2. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the input devices comprise at least a first button programmed to provide a first signal to the processor to play an audio signal on the audio headset verbally speaking \u201cyes\u201d without requiring a selection on the user interface, and a second button programmed to provide a second signal to the processor to play an audio signal on the audio headset verbally speaking \u201cno\u201d without requiring a selection on the user interface.
3. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the input devices comprise one or more of: a remote control, a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a drawing a tablet, and a touchpad.
4. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the user interface further displays a representation of at least one educational media item.
5. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the user interface further displays a representation of at least one entertainment media item.