Patent ID: 8626271

Claim:
A system for examining an area of a patient's anatomy comprising: a) a probe capable of fluorescing, the probe configured to be deliverable within the anatomy; and b) a medical instrument including at least part of a scanning beam assembly and having an outer surface that includes, at least in part, a fluorophore, wherein the scanning beam assembly scans the probe with a beam comprising imaging radiation and excitation radiation and detects the probe's fluorescence while simultaneously detecting imaging radiation returned from a field-of-view, the scanning beam assembly comprising: a radiation source configured for simultaneously emitting one or more wavelengths of imaging radiation and excitation radiation, the excitation radiation being configured for exciting the probe and the fluorophore and causing the probe and the fluorophore to fluoresce; a scanning device that includes an oscillating reflector that directs the imaging and excitation radiation onto the field-of-view to create a scan of the field-of-view; a separator that separates radiation returned from the field-of-view into imaging radiation and fluorescence radiation; a first detector configured to detect the imaging radiation and a second detector configured to detect the fluorescence radiation; and a controller configured to convert the detected imaging radiation into a displayable image of the field-of-view and the detected fluorescence radiation into a displayable fluorescence image of both the probe and the fluorophore; wherein the fluorophore while fluorescing enables the visualization of the movement of the outer surface of the instrument.