Patent ID: 8900219

Claim:
A tissue visualization system, comprising: a reflectivity sensor sized and shaped to be slidably disposed within a lumen of a catheter, and configured to capture reflected light from an area of tissue; an imaging module in communication with the reflectivity sensor, and configured to detect a first amount of light reflected by the area of tissue at a first, predetermined waveband and a second amount of light reflected by the area of tissue at a second, predetermined waveband; a processor in communication with the imaging module, and configured in real time to compare the first amount of light relative to the second amount of light, and further configured in real time to classify the area of tissue as a lesion or as de novo tissue if the first amount of light is less than or greater than the second amount of light, respectively; and a display that is in communication with the processor for displaying, in real time, an image of the area of tissue obtained from the imaging module, wherein the processor is configured to visually differentiate, on the display, tissue that is classified as a lesion from de novo tissue to allow a user to distinguish the lesion from de novo tissue on the display and evaluate a progress of a medical procedure; wherein the first and second wavebands are specifically selected such that a comparison between a degree of light reflectance at each of the first and second wavebands is indicative of whether the tissue being analyzed is a lesion or de novo tissue.