Claims for Patent: 7,881,777

Summary for Patent: 7,881,777

Title:	Method and apparatus for performing intra-operative angiography
Abstract:	Method for assessing the patency of a patient's blood vessel, advantageously during or after treatment of that vessel by an invasive procedure, comprising administering a fluorescent dye to the patient; obtaining at least one angiographic image of the vessel portion; and evaluating the at least one angiographic image to assess the patency of the vessel portion. Other related methods are contemplated, including methods for assessing perfusion in selected body tissue, methods for evaluating the potential of vessels for use in creation of AV fistulas, methods for determining the diameter of a vessel, and methods for locating a vessel located below the surface of a tissue.
Inventor(s):	Docherty; John C. (Winnipeg, CA), Hewko; Mark (Winnipeg, CA), Mangat; Gurpreet (Markham, CA), Flower; Robert W. (Hunt Valley, MD), Chari; Seshadri M. (Toronto, CA)
Assignee:	National Research Council of Canada (Ottawa, CA)
Application Number:	11/946,672
Patent Claims:	1. A device for monitoring movement of a fluorescent dye contained in blood moving through a cardiovascular bypass graft and vasculature connected to the graft of a subject during a surgical procedure, the device comprising: an illumination source emitting radiation of which a portion is absorbable by the moving fluorescent dye; a camera having an image capturing device configured to capture images of fluorescent radiation emitted from the fluorescent dye moving through the bypass graft and connected vasculature while the subject's heart is beating, at an acquisition rate of at least 15 angiographic images per second, the captured images including at least an optimal image of fluorescent dye initially moving through the bypass graft and connected vasculature, as well as images leading and trailing the optimal image; wherein the fluorescent dye has a peak absorption in the range of 800 to 850 nm; and a display device that transforms the captured images into viewable images. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the camera captures images at an increased acquisition rate of at least 30 images per second and the dye is indocyanine green. 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the illumination source and the camera are positioned with respect to one another such that an angle between an optical axis of the camera and an axis of a radiant energy beam produced by the illumination source is less than 85.degree.. 4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the illumination source is a laser, and the device further comprises optics positioned to diverge a radiant energy beam produced by the laser. 5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the laser and the camera are positioned with respect to one another such that an angle between an optical axis of the camera and an axis of the radiant energy beam from the laser is between 20.degree. and 70.degree.. 6. The device according to claim 4, wherein the optics are adjustable, permitting variation in a field of illumination. 7. The device according to claim 4, further comprising a bandpass filter positioned relative to the radiant energy beam to limit the radiant energy beam to one of a substantially uniform wavelength. 8. The device according to claim 4, wherein the laser is pulsed and synchronized with the acquisition rate of the camera. 9. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a bandpass filter positioned to prevent the camera from capturing radiation other than that emitted by the fluorescent dye. 10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the camera comprises a lens system for magnifying a field of view. 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the lens system is capable of being engaged by the laser to correspondingly adjust a field of illumination provided by the laser as a function of the field of view of the camera. 12. The device according to claim 4, further comprising a distance sensor that provides distance information from at least one of the camera and the laser to the cardiovascular bypass graft. 13. The device according to claim 4, wherein the optics engage the laser resulting in irradiation of a 7.5 cm.times.7.5 cm area. 14. A method for evaluating movement through a cardiovascular bypass graft and vasculature connected to the graft of a fluorescent dye contained in blood moving through the bypass graft and vasculature of a subject during a surgical procedure, comprising: injecting the fluorescent dye having a peak absorption and emission in the range of 800 to 850 nm into the blood of the subject; illuminating with an illumination source the cardiovascular bypass graft and vasculature connected to the graft with radiation that will be absorbed by the fluorescent dye; capturing radiation emitted from the fluorescent dye within the cardiovascular bypass graft and vasculature connected to the graft as an angiographic image with a camera that captures images at an acquisition rate of at least 15 images per second; and evaluating the captured images to assess the extent of blood flow in the bypass graft and the vasculature connected to the graft. 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the camera captures images at an increased acquisition rate of at least 30 images per second and the dye is indocyanine green. 16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the fluorescent dye is excited with a radiant energy beam from the illumination source, and the illumination source and the camera are positioned with respect to one another such that an angle between an optical axis of the camera and the radiant energy beam is less than 85.degree.. 17. The method according to claim 14, wherein the illumination source is a laser that emits a radiant energy beam, and the laser is associated with optics positioned to diverge the radiant energy beam to cover the cardiovascular bypass graft and the vasculature connected to the bypass graft. 18. The method according to claim 15, wherein the fluorescent dye is excited with a laser that emits a radiant energy beam, and the laser and camera are positioned with respect to one another such that an angle between an optical axis of the camera and the radiant energy beam is between 20.degree. and 70.degree.. 19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the optics are adjustable, permitting variation in a field of illumination of the illumination source. 20. The method according to claim 17, wherein a bandpass filter is positioned relative to the radiant energy beam to limit the radiant energy beam to one of a substantially uniform wavelength. 21. The method according to claim 17, wherein the laser is pulsed and synchronized with an acquisition rate of the camera. 22. The method according to claim 17, wherein a bandpass filter is positioned to prevent the camera from capturing radiation other than that emitted by the fluorescent dye. 23. The method according to claim 17, wherein the camera comprises a lens system for magnifying a field of view. 24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the lens system is capable of being switched to the laser to correspondingly adjust a field of illumination provided by the laser as a function of the field of view. 25. The method according to claim 17, wherein the optics illuminate an illumination area of a 7.5 cm.times.7.5 cm.