with Prof. Luigi Boni
The doctor will deal with the technical aspects and economic value of fluorescence guided surgeries. For many years, the dream of surgeons was to see what is usually invisible. This is shown by the fact that every medical advance, particularly in surgery, came about as a result of an improvement in the way the human body was seen. Tools such as CT scans or MRIs help the surgeon to improve its surgical performance.
Fluorescence-guided surgery is another to see what is usually invisible. Fluorescence-guided surgery is a very simple technology in terms of the basis of the technology itself. All that is needed is a fluorophore, which can be injected locally, a camera, and a scope. A source of fluorophore excitation is also needed. There are several fluorophores in nature.
Indocyanine Green (ICG) is one of the most common fluorophores and was developed in the second world war as a dye for photography. In 1957 it was tested for the liver function test and for retinal vein angiography. The fact that is not metabolized by the human body is an important advantage.. When it is injected into the blood, it is picked up by the liver and secreted by the liver through the bile.
ICG binds to plasma and can be excited. Once these molecules are excited, the fluorescence signal can be detected with special microscopes. When it comes to dosing and injection time, 25mg of ICG are usually diluted in 10ml of sterile water or saline solution.
As regards its future development, 4K imaging is being implemented in this technology. Finally, some conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of this technology are given
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