Patent ID: 6393315
Filing Date: 2002-05-21
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
Process for the detection and mapping of inflamed zones of living tissues, which comprises:subjecting the tissues to be analyzed to a luminous excitation with a spectral field; acquiring an unprocessed fluorescent signal of endogenous porphyrins at a plurality of measurement points; acquiring, for the same tissues to be analyzed, fluorescence signals in the spectral bands centered respectively on about 600 nm and on at least one of about 630 nm and 680-690 nm, and on at least one of about 470 nm and 510-520 nm, for each of the measurement points; forming for each spectral band a fluorescence image from values of fluorescence densities taken in the spectral band in question for the different measurement points, using a normalization factor of a given value for images collected at at least one of 470 nm and 510 nm and another normalization factor of a different value for images collected at at least one of 600 nm, 630 nm, and 690 nm, the values of these two factors being defined so as to obtain an optimum gradation of the colors or levels of gray on the final image after processing; and determining, for each measurement point, the fluorescence intensity for wavelengths characteristic of the endogenous porphyrins.