Patent ID: 6081740
Filing Date: 2000-06-27
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A diagnostic tool to assist an operator in diagnosing cancerous tissue in a human gynecological tract, the diagnostic tool comprising, in combination:an endoscope having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the endoscope directs a first light from the proximal end of the endoscope to tissue near the distal end of the endoscope, the first light arriving at the tissue and exciting autofluorescence in the tissue, a second light thereby being produced, the second light comprising light reflected from the tissue and light emitted from the tissue, the emitted light representing a spatial distribution of the autofluorescence, wherein the distal end of the endoscope receives the emitted light, and wherein the endoscope directs the emitted light from the distal end to the proximal end of the endoscope;a position locator at the distal end of the endoscope, wherein the position locator generates coordinates representing where the distal end of the endoscope is in relation to the gynecological tract;a plurality of imaging detectors located at the proximal end of the endoscope for receiving the emitted light from the tissue, wherein the imaging detectors are responsive to the emitted light and produce an autofluorescence image of the tissue comprising a plurality of pixels each representing a respective visible portion of the tissue;a computing device, wherein the computing device conducts an analysis of the plurality of pixels, the analysis producing diagnostic characterizations of the respective visible portions of the tissue, wherein the computing device presents the characterizations to the operator as a derived image and associates the characterizations with the coordinates from the position locator, whereby the coordinates and the associated characterizations of the tissue may be recorded in response to instructions by the operator; andmeans for steering the distal end of the endoscope within the gynecological tract, whereby the operator may steer the distal end of the endoscope to a position in the gynecological tract corresponding to recorded coordinates.