Post-operative Renal Function Analysis Using Visible DlP® Hyperspectral Imaging System

Surgical and clinical settings in medical hospitals strive to keep up with technological innovations in order to improve the current healthcare scenario. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is a novel technology that addresses this problem. HSI is a non-invasive imaging technique that can provide information on both structural and functional conditions of tissue. This information is very useful particularly in live surgical procedures wherein the surgeons can get real-time feedback of the anatomical and functional changes of tissue, as they perform the operation. Currently available HSI systems are extremely slow and thus impractical for time restricted surgical or clinical uses. Hence, DLP® based HSI systems have been developed to make the imaging procedure much faster and more convenient. This work shows that the DLP® based HSI systems can operate at near video rate speeds making them practical for both clinical and surgical use.The HSI system is based on the digital light processor (DLP®) technology developed by Texas Instruments. Two visible hyperspectral imaging systems have been described; one of the systems utilizes a CoolSNAP HQ2 camera; and this system has successfully been used in collecting data on open partial nephrectomies, in both humans and porcines. Results from these experiments show that the visible HSI system can be used to predict post operative renal functions based on its ability to monitor changes in levels of tissue oxygenation. As a result of these positive findings on the utility of the HSI system, surgical interest has prompted the development of a laparoscopic DLP® HSI system. Preliminary data on porcine imaging, using the laparoscopic HSI system, demonstrate its ability to be used in live surgical settings; and other applications of both visible and near infrared (NIR) HSI systems prove the efficacy of this technology in multiple surgical and clinical settings.