Patent ID: 8380268

Claim:
A method of measuring spectral data to detect cancerous tissue comprising: inserting a fiber optic probe within an endoscope channel, the endoscope being inserted within a body cavity or lumen, the fiber optic probe having a central light delivery optical fiber and a plurality of light collection optical fibers that surround the central light delivery optical fiber, the probe collecting fluorescent light and reflected light from the tissue at a plurality of wavelengths; illuminating tissue with light from a broadband light source optically coupled to the central light delivery optical fiber and a laser light source optically coupled to the central delivery optical fiber such that a selected region of tissue is illuminated; detecting the collected fluorescent light and reflected light with a detector that is optically coupled to proximal ends of the collection optical fibers; processing detected fluorescence light and detected reflected light with a data processor to form an intrinsic fluorescence spectrum and a diffuse reflectance spectrum; and determining a characteristic of the tissue using the data processor that processes the intrinsic fluorescence spectrum and the diffuse reflectance spectrum, in combination, to detect cancerous tissue.