Endoscopic vessel harvesting with thermal management and augmented reality display

A vessel harvesting system, the system comprising:

• an elongated harvesting instrument configured for insertion into a body along a path of a target vessel, wherein the target vessel connects to at least one side branch, and wherein the harvesting instrument includes a cutter for applying thermal energy to sever and cauterize the side branch;
• an endoscopic camera mounted to the harvesting instrument and configured for capturing visible-light images from a distal tip of the harvesting instrument within a dissected tunnel around the target vessel;
• a thermal camera mounted to the harvesting instrument and configured for capturing thermograms coinciding with the visible-light images to characterize a temperature present at respective surfaces in the dissected tunnel;
• an image processor configured for rendering a video stream including the visible-light images and an overlay configured for depicting the temperatures present on at least some of the respective surfaces when applying the thermal energy;
• and
• a display configured for presenting the video stream and overlay to a user,
• wherein the image processor is configured to identify the target vessel and the side branch,
• wherein the image processor is configured to render a cutting indicator to guide the cutter to an optimal location for severing the identified side branch to limit a heat load applied to the target vessel, and
• wherein the cutting indicator comprises a flag having a no-go state when the cutter is not located at the optimal location and having a go state when the cutter is located at the optimal location.