Method and apparatus for optical detection of bio-contaminants within a lumen

A soil detection system for detecting presence of soil in a cannulated structure, the soil detection system comprising:

• a probe for insertion into an interior of the cannulated structure to detect a fluorescent agent bound to residual soil present on the interior of the cannulated structure, the fluorescent agent emitting fluorescent light at a fluorescence wavelength indicative of soil in response to excitation light at an excitation wavelength;
• a light source for producing the excitation light at the excitation wavelength, transmitted through a distal end of the probe into the interior of the cannulated structure;
• a light filter for filtering light emanating from the interior of the cannulated structure, said light emanating from said interior including the excitation light reflected by the interior at the excitation wavelength and the fluorescent light at the fluorescence wavelength emitted by exciting the fluorescent agent bound to the soil with the excitation light, said light filter configured to pass the fluorescent light indicative of soil;
• a photodetector for detecting the filtered fluorescent light emanating from said interior and generating a light signal corresponding thereto;
• and
• a processing unit for receiving the light signal generated by the detector to determine a presence of soil on the interior based upon features detected at the fluorescence wavelength within the interior of the cannulated structure,
• wherein the processing unit detects instances of fluorescence intensity above a threshold in the light signal, which correspond to locations of an unacceptable level of residual soil within the interior of the cannulated structure, and
• wherein the instances of fluorescence intensity above the threshold are correlated with their respective distances along a longitudinal axis of the cannulated structure to determine specific locations within the interior of the cannulated structure at which an unacceptable level of soil is present, and a longitudinal display corresponding to a length of the cannulated structure, for displaying locations within the cannulated structure where spots of residual soil are detected.