Method for spectrophotometrically determining a blood oxygen parameter

1. A near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system for measuring a characteristic of a biological tissue, comprising:

at least one sensor assembly including a light source operable to emit light at one or more predetermined wavelengths, at least one light detector having an active area for detecting light emitted by the light source and passed through the biological tissue, and which detector is operable to produce signals representative of the detected light, and a subject contact layer disposed to cover at least one of the light source or the at least one light detector, which subject contact layer has an optically transmissive portion, the optically transmissive portion of the subject contact layer having at least one of known uniform optical attenuation characteristics or known uniform light scattering characteristics; and

a processor adapted to use the signals produced by the detector to determine the characteristic of the tissue, and which processor is adapted to account for at least one of the known uniform optical attenuation characteristics or the known uniform light scattering characteristics in making such determination.

2. The NIRS system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor assembly further comprises a pad having at least one light detector aperture aligned with the light detector, and at least one light source aperture aligned with the at least one light detector; and

wherein the subject contact layer is disposed to cover both the light source and the at least one detector, and wherein the at least one optically transmissive portion of the subject contact layer includes portions aligned with the light source and the at least one detector.

3. The NIRS system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is adapted with empirically collected data that is representative of at least one of the known uniform optical attenuation characteristics or the known uniform light scattering characteristics.

4. A method for determining a blood oxygen parameter of a subject tissue, comprising the steps of:

providing a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system, which system includes at least one sensor assembly and a processor, wherein the at least one sensor assembly includes:

a light source operable to emit light at one or more predetermined wavelengths;

at least one light detector having an active area for detecting light emitted by the light source and passed through the biological tissue, the detector configured to selectively produce signals representative of the detected light; and

a subject contact layer having at least one optically transmissive portion, the optically transmissive portion having at least one of known uniform optical attenuation characteristics or known uniform light scattering characteristics, the at least one optically transmissive portion disposed to cover at least one of the light source or the at least one light detector;

interrogating the subject tissue with light emitted from the sensor assembly;

detecting light emitted by the light source, which light has passed through the biological tissue and has passed through the at least one optically transmissive portion, and producing signals representative of the detected light; and

determining the blood oxygen parameter of the subject tissue using the processor, the signals representative of the detected light, and calibration stored within the processor that is representative of at least one of the known uniform optical attenuation characteristics or the known uniform light scattering characteristics.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the stored calibration is based on empirically collected data that is representative of at least one of the known uniform optical attenuation characteristics or the known uniform light scattering characteristics.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the sensor assembly further comprises a pad having at least one light detector aperture aligned with the light detector, and at least one light source aperture aligned with the at least one light detector; and

wherein the subject contact layer is disposed to cover both the light source and the at least one detector, and wherein the at least one optically transmissive portion of the subject contact layer includes portions aligned with the light source and the at least one detector.

7. The NIRS system of claim 1 , wherein the subject contact layer is made from one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: a silicone foam, a polyethylene foam, a polyurethane foam, or a polyvinyl chloride foam.

8. The NIRS system of claim 1 , wherein the subject contact layer is made from one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: a tricot fabric; a knit fabric, a loose weave fabric, a spunlace fabric, a microporous fabric, or an elastic fabric.

9. The NIRS system of claim 1 , wherein the subject contact layer is made from one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: a hydrogel adhesive, a hydrocolloid adhesive, or an encapsulated gel.

10. A near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system for measuring a characteristic of a biological tissue, comprising:

at least one sensor assembly including a light source operable to emit light at one or more predetermined wavelengths, at least one light detector having an active area for detecting light emitted by the light source and passed through the biological tissue, and which detector is operable to produce signals representative of the detected light, and a subject contact layer disposed to cover at least one of the light detector or the light source, which subject contact layer has an optically transmissive portion, the optically transmissive portion of the subject contact layer having at least one of known uniform optical attenuation characteristics or known uniform light scattering characteristics; and

a processor in communication with the at least one sensor assembly and a non-transitory memory storing instructions, which instructions include calibration that accounts for at least one of the known uniform optical attenuation characteristics or the known uniform light scattering characteristics, and which instructions when executed cause the processor to determine the characteristic of the tissue using the calibration.