Abstract: A medical monitor, and related method, determines a pre-existing physiological property of an organ of a patient by monitoring fluorescent light produced by constituents associated with the metabolic and structural condition of the organ. The monitor illuminates the organ with ultraviolet excitation light that induces some constituents of the organ to fluoresce, with the fluorescent light being monitored and processed to determine pre-existing physiological properties of the organ. A sensor monitors the return light, which includes fluorescent light produced by the fluorescent constituents of the organ, and generates first and second electrical signals indicative of the intensity of light at two wavelength. One wavelength is associated with the fluorescence of collagen, a constituent associated with organ's structural properties, and the other wavelength is a associated with the fluorescence of NADH, a constituent associated with the organ's metabolism.

Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed for the instant intraoperative detection and biopsy of metastatic cancer using fluorescence spectroscopy. A photosensitizing agent selectively retained by cancerous tissue is administered prior to surgery. A fiberoptic probe integrated with a biopsy device illuminates the examined tissue and causes fluorescence which is recorded by a spectrograph and plotted as a spectral curve. The intensity ratio (S1/S2) for the fluorescence from the photosensitizing agent (S1) and autofluorescence (S2) for the examined tissue is compared with the intensity ratio at the same wavelengths for primary tumor and normal tissue. Tissue that displays an intensity ratio different from that of normal tissue can immediately be analyzed for the depth of tumor involvement and then excised for histological examination using the biopsy device.