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Abstract

This invention describes a method for the accurate and sensitive measurement of an exogenous fluorescence chromophore in vivo. The method provides a means for normalizing a typical endogenous fluorescence signal into a relatively narrow band of values for different tissue types. The method employs irradiation of a target tissue at a single excitation wavelength while measuring two narrow bands of emission wavelengths, one of which is principally associated with the endogenous autofluorescence of the tissue while the other is chosen to be characteristic of the exogenous chromophore of interest. An exogenous chromophore is administered to a target tissue in vivo. A fiber optic positioned near the target tissue delivers illuminating excitation light from a light source to the tissue and receives fluorescence light from both exogenous and endogenous chromophores in the tissue and conducts the fluorescence light to a detector. The ratio of the exogenous fluorescence intensity to the endogenous fluorescence intensity is used to calculate the exogenous chromophore concentration in tissue. The temporal change in the ratio provides a measure of the rate of uptake, retention and excretion of the exogenous chromophore by the target tissue.

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First Claim