Light irradiating apparatus, control method therefor, and object information acquiring apparatus

Abstract

A light irradiating apparatus is used, which is characterized by having: a probe including an irradiating unit which guides light to an object, a housing containing the irradiating unit, and a touch sensor acquiring a contact condition amount between the object and the housing; and a controller controlling irradiation with light from the irradiating unit based on a level of the contact condition amount and a change in the contact condition amount, wherein in a case where the contact condition amount is equal to or more than a first reference value while the change in the contact condition amount which occurs when the housing is pressed against the object is a positive value, the controller performs a control which enables irradiation with light from the irradiating unit when the change in the contact condition amount is equal to or more than a second reference value.

1 . An light irradiating apparatus comprising:
 a light irradiating unit configured to irradiate an object with light   a housing containing the irradiating unit and   a sensor configured to acquire a contact condition amount between the object and the housing,   the apparatus being configured such that in a case where the contact condition amount is equal to or more than a first reference value while an amount of change in the contact condition amount relative to time is less than a second reference value, no irradiation of the object with light from the light irradiating unit occurs.   
     
     
         2 . An apparatus comprising:
 a light irradiating unit configured to irradiate an object with light;   a housing containing the irradiating unit; and   a sensor configured to acquire a contact condition amount between the object and the housing,   the apparatus being configured such that in a case where the contact condition amount is less than a first reference value, no irradiation of the object with light from the light irradiating unit occurs, and   the first reference value being lower in a case where the housing is approaching toward the object as compared with a case where the housing is distancing from the object.   
     
     
         3 . An apparatus comprising:
 a light irradiating unit configured to irradiate an object with light;   a housing containing the irradiating unit; and   a sensor configured to acquire a contact condition amount between the object and the housing,   the apparatus being configured such that in a case where an amount of temporal change in the contact condition amount is less than a second reference value, no irradiation of the object with light from the light irradiating unit occurs, and   the second reference value being set in accordance with the contact condition amount.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the second reference value is lower in a case where the contact condition amount is large as compared with a case where the contact condition amount is small. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the second reference value is set such that in a case where the contact condition amount is large, illumination with light is permitted even when the contact condition amount is somewhat relieved as compared with in a case where the contact condition amount is small. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured such that in a case where the contact condition amount is less than the first reference value, no irradiation of the object with light from the light irradiating unit occurs. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured such that in a case where the contact condition amount is equal to or more than the first reference value while the amount of change in the contact condition amount relative to time is equal to or more than the second reference value, irradiation of the object with light from the light irradiating unit is allowed. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the light irradiating unit comprises a diffuser, and the object is irradiated with light through the diffuser. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a controller performing control on irradiation of the object with light from the light irradiating unit, by using a signal regarding the contact condition amount outputted from the sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a controller configured to perform control such that when a predetermined condition is satisfied, no irradiation of the object with light from the light irradiating unit occurs. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a light source unit;   a fiber configured to guide light from the light source unit to the light irradiating unit;   a receiving unit configured to receive an acoustic wave generated from the object due to irradiation of the object with light;   a processing unit configured to process a signal obtained from the receiving unit; and   a signal transmission path configured to transmit the signal from the receiving unit to the processing unit,   wherein the fiber is longer in length than the signal transmission path.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a handheld type probe having, in the housing, a receiving unit configured to receive an acoustic wave. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a receiving unit, in the housing, configured to receive an acoustic wave,
 wherein the apparatus is configured to acquire, based on a signal obtained from the receiving unit, subject information on a subject included in the object.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the light the object is irradiated with is any of visible rays, infrared rays, and near infrared rays. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a light source, outside the housing, configured to irradiate the object with light. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the light is guided through a bundle fiber to the light irradiating unit. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus according to  claim 16 , wherein the housing contains a plurality of the light irradiating units, and the bundle fiber is brunched to be connected to the light irradiating units. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus according to  claim 13 , wherein the receiving unit is an ultrasound probe comprising PZTs or CMUTs. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the sensor acquiring the contact condition amount is any of an optical-type sensor, a resistance-type sensor, and an electrostatic capacitance-type sensor. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the housing has a bottom surface comprising an illuminating area and a receiving area, and the light irradiating unit is disposed on each of opposite sides of the receiving area. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is any of an AOT apparatus, a DOT apparatus, and a laser therapy apparatus. 
     
     
         22 . An apparatus comprising:
 a light source unit:   a light irradiating unit configured to irradiate an object with light;   a housing containing the irradiating unit;   a fiber configured to guide light from the light source unit to the light irradiating unit;   a receiving unit configured to receive an acoustic wave generated from the object due to irradiation of the object with light; and   a signal transmission path configured to transmit a signal from the receiving unit to the processing unit,
 wherein the fiber is longer in length than the signal transmission path.