Patent ID: 7846091

Claim:
A fluorescence imaging endoscope system comprising: a diode laser light source for producing excitation light having a wavelength in a range of 380 nm to 420 nm that induces visible autofluorescence in tissue and a second light source for producing a reference light including red, green and blue wavelength bands, the diode laser light source and second light source being operative in response to control signals from a control system; an optical combiner that optically couples said excitation light and said reference light onto a common optical path, said excitation light and reference light being coupled into an optical guide that delivers the light to the tissue through an endoscope; a single image detector at a distal end of the endoscope that detects an autofluorescence image having blue, green and red light components and a reference image of the tissue; and a data processor that processes the autofluorescence image and said reference image to produce a processed output image of the tissue.