Usage of invisible near infrared light (NIR) fluorescence with indocyanine green (ICG) and methylene blue (MB) in urological oncology. Part 1

摘要

Introduction Near infrared (NIR) technology has recently garnered much interest as a tool for intraoperativeimage–guided surgery in various surgical sub–disciplines. In urology, although nascent, NIRtechnology is also fostering much enthusiasm.This review discusses the two major fluorophores, indocyanine green (ICG) and methlyene blue (MB),with NIR guidance in experimental and clinical urology. The authors aim to illustrate and analyze thecurrently available initial studies to better understand the potential and practicability of NIR–guidedimaging in the diagnosis and surgical outcome improvement.In the first part of the study we analyzed problems associated with sentinel lymph node biopsy, NIR–guided detection and imaging of tumors.Material and methods PubMed and Medline databases were searched for ICG and MB use in urologicalsettings, along with data published in abstracts of urological conferences.Results Although NIR–guided ICG and MB are still in their initial phases, there have been significantdevelopments in major domains of urology, including uro–oncological surgery: 1) sentinel lymph nodebiopsy, 2) detection and imaging of tumorsConclusions Much like in other fields of surgical medicine, the application of NIR technology in urologyis at its early stages. Therefore, more studies are needed to assess the true potential and limitations ofthe technology. However, initial developments hint towards a pioneering tool that may influence variousaspects of urology.