| abstract |
The present invention relates to a device for observing a sentinel lymph node (SLN) in a human body. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device for observing an SLN by detecting near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence caused by a fluorescent material such as indocyanine green (ICG) at the SLN and a method for detecting NIR fluorescence at an SLN. Particularly, in the implementation of a composite image obtained by reproducing a fluorescent material such as ICG and NIR fluorescence emitted by excitation light together with a visible light image, it is possible to detect an SLN with high accuracy through a colour contrast method and/or a temporal modulation method using an NIR fluorescence image signal and a visible reflection light image signal. In an embodiment there is a white light source , an NIR source, a multispectral image processing unit splits the detected white light reflection into red (r), green( g) and blue (b) constituent signals, the image is then processed to display the red and green portions of the signal along with the NIR fluorescence image signal in blue. |