| abstract |
A tissue-characteristic-determining method and apparatus that analyzes full emission spectra at a fluorescence excitation wavelength and reflective measurements. The method includes illuminating a first tissue portion, forming a first image, illuminating a second tissue portion, spectroscopically measuring reflected optical energy, and determining tissue characteristics based on the spectroscopic measurements. The apparatus includes a base-unit (20) with sub-units. the sub-units include an illumination sub-unit (30), a detection sub-unit (50), and a control sub-unit (45). There is also a separate tissue interface unit (70), and a pathway (73) coupling the base unit and the tissue interface unit (70). The apparatus also includes a docking unit (120) that supports the tissue interface unit (70) when unused. The docking unit (120) further includes an illumination source (132), a processor (190), and a pathway (177). |