COMMON BILE DUCT SURGICAL IMAGING SYSTEM

摘要

A method and apparatus for imaging features of a CBD in a patient introduces afluorescent contrast agent intothe CBD. A light source transmits both a visible light and a fluorescent lightinto a patient's abdominal cavity via the laparoscope.Cameras attached to or integrated into the laparoscope detect visible lightimages and fluorescent emission light images. The visiblelight image and fluorescent image signals are processed to combine thefluorescent emission light image signals and visible imagesignals into a single display signal. The system adjusts the displaycharacteristics, such as color, of the fluorescent emission lightimage so it contrasts well with the visual light image so the surgeon caneasily distinguish between the two images. The displaysignal is sent to a video monitor where the surgeon views the visible lightimage and the fluorescent image as a single overlaid image.