Patent ID: 7945312

Claim:
A multisensor probe for tissue identification, the probe connectable to a controller via a cable, the probe comprising: a handle; an elongate body having a distal tip and a lumen extending through the elongate body to the distal tip; a slideable sheath disposed over a distal section of the elongate body and being retractable from the elongate body toward the handle; a resilient member configured to bias the sheath toward the distal tip of the elongate body; and a plurality of optical fibers extending from the controller, through the cable, through the lumen, to the distal tip of the elongate body when the probe is connected to the controller, wherein at least two of the plurality of optical fibers are optical scattering and absorption spectroscopy fiber optics and wherein at least one of the plurality of optical fibers is an optical coherence domain reflectometry fiber optic, and wherein a position sensor is incorporated into the probe, the position sensor adapted to measure a depth to which the elongate body is inserted into tissue, the position sensor configured to read a position of the sheath relative to the elongate body.