Detecting, localizing, and targeting internal sites in vivo using optical contrast agents

Claim 1

A medical system for determining the location of the central lumen within a diseased arterial blood vessel during coronary artery reflow procedures, comprising: (a) a contrast solution of indocyanine green for providing a source of contrast between coronary blood in said vessel lumen and other tissues, said agent injected distal to an obstruction so as to have achieved distribution and localization within the coronary vessels; (b) a monochromatic light source for illuminating a portion of said subject with illuminating radiation; (c) a light collector for collecting a portion of said illuminating radiation, said collected portion having passed through an opaque region of the body of the subject potentially containing said contrast agent, and for providing a contrast influenced and fluorescent detected signal in response to said collected portion; (d) an intravascular catheter for use within said subject during said intravascular procedure, said medical catheter coupled to said light emitter, said light collector, or both; and, (e) means for determining the location of said vessel lumen, said determination based upon said detected signal, and for generating an output signal related to the accuracy of placement of the tip of said catheter with respect to said vessel lumen in response to said determination.

Claim 7

A method for detecting and imaging metastatic tumor within the body of a patient using a medical imaging camera device, comprising: (a) intravenously administering an optical contrast agent to the subject, said agent targeted toward one or more tissue-specific antigens; (b) waiting until the contrast agent has achieved adequate distribution and localization within the body; (c) providing a noninvasive medical CCD camera device that is optically coupled to a light source, a light detector, or both, and using the device or instrument during a partial or total body scan imaging procedure on the subject; (d) illuminating the subject with light from the light source such that the contrast agent in vivo may interact with and modify the illuminating light; (e) detecting modified light with the light detector after passage of source light through an opaque region of the body and possible interaction and modification of the source light by the contrast agent; (f) determining a positional estimate of one or more metastatic cancers types and sites based upon said modified, detected light; and, (g) generating an output image in response to said measurement.

Claim 8

A method for detecting and imaging metastatic tumor within the body of a patient using a medical imaging camera device, comprising: (a) intravenously administering an optical contrast agent to the subject, said agent targeted toward one or more tissue-specific antigens; (b) waiting until the contrast agent has achieved adequate distribution and localization within the body; (c) providing a noninvasive medical CCD camera device that is optically coupled to a light source, a light detector, or both, and using the device or instrument during a partial or total body scan imaging procedure on the subject; (d) illuminating the subject with light from the light source such that the contrast agent in vivo may interact with and modify the illuminating light; (e) detecting modified light with the light detector after passage of source light through an opaque region of the body and possible interaction and modification of the source light by the contrast agent; (f) determining a positional estimate of one or more metastatic cancers types and sites based upon said modified, detected light; and, (g) generating an output image in response to said measurement.

Claim 11

A method for detecting and treating metastatic tumor within the body of a patient using a medical imaging camera device, comprising: (a) intravenously administering an optical contrast agent to the subject; (b) waiting until the contrast agent has achieved adequate distribution and localization within the body; (c) providing a noninvasive medical CCD camera device that is optically coupled to a light source, a light detector, or both, and using the device or instrument during a partial or total body scan imaging procedure on the subject; (d) illuminating the subject with light from the light source such that the contrast agent in vivo may interact with and modify the illuminating light; (e) detecting modified light with the light detector after passage of source light through an opaque region of the body and possible interaction and modification of the source light by the contrast agent; (f) determining a positional estimate of one or more metastatic cancers types and sites based upon said modified, detected light; and, (g) generating an output image in response to said measurement; (h) treating tissue at said positional estimate of cancer; and, (i) repeating steps (d) through (h) until a diagnostic or therapeutic endpoint is reached.

Claim 12

A method for detecting and treating metastatic tumor within the body of a patient using a medical imaging camera device, comprising: (a) intravenously administering an optical contrast agent to the subject; (b) waiting until the contrast agent has achieved adequate distribution and localization within the body; (c) providing a noninvasive medical CCD camera device that is optically coupled to a light source, a light detector, or both, and using the device or instrument during a partial or total body scan imaging procedure on the subject; (d) illuminating the subject with light from the light source such that the contrast agent in vivo may interact with and modify the illuminating light; (e) detecting modified light with the light detector after passage of source light through an opaque region of the body and possible interaction and modification of the source light by the contrast agent; (f) determining a positional estimate of one or more metastatic cancers types and sites based upon said modified, detected light; and, (g) generating an output image in response to said measurement; (h) treating tissue at said positional estimate of cancer; and, (i) repeating steps (d) through (h) until a diagnostic or therapeutic endpoint is reached.