A technique utilizing laser induced fluorescence has been developed to obtain direct real-time imaging of the coronary artery network for open heart surgery applications. Both excimer pumped dye and cw argon-ion laser radiation transmitted through a fused silica fiber were used as laser sources to irradiate swine, bovine, and human cadaver hearts whose coronary arteries had been injected with strongly fluorescent dyes. The laser induces fluorescence originating from within the coronary arteries and detected by the surgeon's eye, allows the entire coronary network to be directly viewed. A comparison between laser induced fluorescence and the use of direct visual inspection of arteries following injection of the dye Cardio-Green(R) as well as conventional thermal imaging is presented. The limitations imposed on each technique by layers of fat on top of the coronary arteries are also described. The possibility of using these techniques to detect mechanical or laser beam perforations during laser endarterectomy procedures is discussed.

Date Published: 1 July 1991
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 1420, Optical Fibers in Medicine VI, (1 July 1991); doi: 10.1117/12.43880

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1420:
Optical Fibers in Medicine VI
Abraham Katzir, Editor(s)