Intra-operative use of fluorescence spectroscopy and applications of same

1. A process for intra-operatively identifying a parathyroid tissue of a living subject, comprising the steps of:

(a) illuminating, with a light, source, tissues in the neck area of the living subject with a beam of light having a predetermined wavelength;

(b) obtaining, with a detector, auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity from light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area, wherein each auto-fluorescence spectrum is corresponding to a region of the neck area whose tissue emits auto-fluorescence light in response to the illumination, wherein the predetermined wavelength is adapted such that the auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity of the light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area are in a wavelength range of 800-1000 nm;

(c) identifying, with a controller, one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having a highest peak intensity among the auto-fluorescence spectra; and

(d) identifying, with the controller, the tissue of the region of the neck area that corresponds to the one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having the highest peak intensity as the parathyroid tissue.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined wavelength is in the near-infrared range.

3. The process of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined wavelength is about 785 nm.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the step of obtaining the auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity comprises collecting the light emitted from the illuminated tissues with a collection probe and obtaining the auto-fluorescence spectra with a fluorescence spectrometer.

5. The process of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of identifying another one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having a peak intensity that is less than the highest peak intensity but greater than other peak intensities among the auto-fluorescence spectra and identifying the tissue of the region of the neck area that corresponds to the another one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having the peak intensity as a thyroid tissue.

6. The process of claim 5 , further comprising the step of displaying images visually representing the auto-fluorescence spectra in real time to a medical professional performing an endocrine surgery.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the step of finding the highest peak intensity in the auto-fluorescence spectrum comprises finding the highest peak intensity in the auto-fluorescence spectrum at a wavelength of about 822 nm.

8. A system for intra-operatively identifying a parathyroid tissue of a living subject, comprising:

(a) a light source configured to emit a beam of light having a wavelength for illuminating tissues in the neck area of the living subject;

(b) means for collecting light emitted from the illuminated tissues in response to the illumination;

(c) means for obtaining auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity from the collected light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area, wherein each auto-fluorescence spectrum is corresponding to a region of the neck area whose tissue emits auto-fluorescence light in response to the illumination, wherein the wavelength is adapted such that the auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity of the light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area are in a wavelength range of 800-1000 nm;

(d) means for finding one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having a highest peak among the auto-fluorescence spectra; and

(e) means for identifying a tissue of the region of the neck area that corresponds to the one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having the highest peak as the parathyroid tissue.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the wavelength is in the near-infrared range.

10. The system of claim 9 , further comprising an optical fiber means optically coupled to the light source, for receiving the beam of light from the light source and delivering the received beam of light to the tissues.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the means for obtaining the auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity comprises a collection probe and a fluorescence spectrometer.

12. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a means for displaying real-time images visually representing the auto-fluorescence spectra to a medical professional performing an endocrine surgical procedure.

13. A process for intra-operatively providing anatomical guidance in endocrine surgery, comprising the steps of:

(a) illuminating, with a light source, tissues in the neck area of a living subject with a beam of light having a predetermined wavelength;

(b) obtaining, with a detector, auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity from light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area, wherein each auto-fluorescence spectrum is corresponding to a region of the neck area whose tissue emits auto-fluorescence light in response to the illumination, wherein the predetermined wavelength is adapted such that the auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity of the light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area are in a wavelength range of 800-1000 nm;

(c) identifying, with a controller, one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having a highest peak intensity among the auto-fluorescence spectra;

(d) identifying, with the controller, the tissue of the region of the neck area that corresponds to the one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having the highest peak intensity as the parathyroid tissue; and

(e) displaying images of the obtained auto-fluorescence data on a display for providing anatomical guidance to a medical professional performing the endocrine surgery.

14. The process of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined wavelength is in the near-infrared range.

15. The process of claim 13 , wherein the auto-fluorescence data comprises near-infrared auto-fluorescence data.

16. A system for intra-operatively providing anatomical guidance in an endocrine surgery, comprising:

(a) a light source configured to emit a beam of light having a wavelength for illuminating tissues in the neck area of a living subject with the beam of light;

(b) means for obtaining auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity from light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area, wherein each auto-fluorescence spectrum is corresponding to a region of the neck area whose tissue emits auto-fluorescence light in response to the illumination, wherein the wavelength is adapted such that the auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity of the light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area are in a wavelength range of 800-1000 nm;

(c) means for finding one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having a highest peak among the auto-fluorescence spectra;

(d) means for identifying a tissue of the region of the neck area that corresponds to the one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having the highest peak as the parathyroid tissue; and

(e) a display in communication with the means for obtaining auto-fluorescence data and configured to display images generated from the obtained auto-fluorescence data, for providing anatomical guidance in an endocrine surgery.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the light source comprises a laser configured to emit the beam of light having a wavelength in the near-infrared range.

18. A process for intra-operatively identifying thyroid or parathyroid cells of a living subject, comprising the steps of:

(a) illuminating, with a light source, tissues in the neck area of the living subject with a beam of light having a wavelength;

(b) obtaining, with a detector, auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity from light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area, wherein each auto-fluorescence spectrum is corresponding to a region of the neck area whose tissue emits auto-fluorescence light in response to the illumination, wherein the wavelength is adapted such that the auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity of the light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area are in a wavelength of 800-1000 nm;

(c) identifying, with a controller, one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having a peak intensity among the auto-fluorescence spectra; and

(d) identifying, with the controller, cells in the tissue of the region of the neck area that corresponds to the one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having the highest peak intensity as the parathyroid cells.

19. The process of claim 18 , wherein the illuminating step comprises the step of illuminating the tissues with the beam of light from a near-infrared light source.

20. The process of claim 18 , wherein the step of obtaining the auto-fluorescence spectra comprises collecting the emitted light in a collection probe and obtaining the auto-fluorescence spectra with a fluorescence spectrometer.

21. The process of claim 18 , further comprising the step of displaying images visually representing the auto-fluorescence spectra in a display for guiding a medical professional through an endocrine surgery.

22. A system for intra-operatively identifying thyroid or parathyroid cells of a living subject, comprising:

(a) a light source configured to emit a beam of light having a wavelength for illuminating tissues in the neck area of the living subject;

(b) an optical probe for collecting light emitted from the illuminated tissues;

(c) means for obtaining auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity from the collected light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area, wherein each auto-fluorescence spectrum is corresponding to a region of the neck area whose tissue emits auto-fluorescence light in response to the illumination, wherein the wavelength is adapted such that the auto-fluorescence spectra of intensity of the light emitted from the illuminated tissues in the neck area are in a wavelength range of 800-1000 nm;

(d) means for identifying one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having a peak intensity among the auto-fluorescence spectra;

(e) means for comparing the one of the auto-fluorescence spectra having a peak intensity to a baseline spectrum; and

(f) means for identifying the presence of parathyroid cells as the highest peak intensity in the one of the auto-fluorescence spectra.

23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the light source comprises a near-infrared laser.

24. The system of claim 22 , further comprising optical fiber means optically coupled to the light source, for receiving a beam of light from the light source and delivering the received beam of light to the tissues in the neck area of the living subject.

25. The system of claim 22 , wherein the means for obtaining the auto-fluorescence spectrum comprises a fluorescence spectrometer.

26. The system of claim 25 , further comprising a controller in communication with the fluorescence spectrometer and programmed for comparing a baseline auto-fluorescence spectrum of non-fluorescent tissues to the obtained auto-fluorescence spectra, and identifying the presence of thyroid or parathyroid cells from the comparison, and displaying images visually representing the auto-fluorescence spectra for guiding a medical professional through an endocrine surgery.