Systems and methods for optically guided placement and monitoring of medical implants

A patch positioned on the skin of a patient, the patch comprising:

• a plurality of near infrared (NIR) transmitters disposed on the patch, each transmitter configured to emit NIR light that reacts with a NIR dye disposed on a medical device that is positioned under the skin of the patient;
• a plurality of NIR detectors configured to receive NIR light emitted by the NIR dye;
• and
• circuitry configured to
• construct an image of the medical device based on the NIR light received by the detectors, and
• detect and register, based on the constructed image, a location of the medical device relative to a boundary of the skin patch.

A method of tracking a location of an implanted medical device, the method comprising:

• stimulating, by an infrared transmitter, the implanted medical device having applied thereon a near infrared (NIR) dye and a patch containing boundary markers positioned on the skin of a patient;
• constructing an image of the implanted medical device and the patch based on infrared light transmitted by the medical device and the boundary markers;
• and
• detecting and registering by an image processor, based on the constructed image, a relative location of the boundary markers and the implanted medical device.

An imaging device for inserting a medical device in a patient, the imaging device comprising:

• an imager configured to
• image a vein of the patient in which the medical device having applied thereon a near infrared (NIR) dye is to be inserted, and
• construct an image of the medical device being inserted in the vein, based on NIR light emitted by the NIR dye, and
• circuitry configured
• compute a change in intensity of the NIR light emitted by the dye, and
• detect and register a position of the medical device relative to the vein based on the computed intensity change.

A medical device monitoring system, comprising:

• a medical device having applied thereon a near infrared (NIR) dye and positioned under a skin of a patient;
• an emitter that emits high energy intensity light that reacts with the NIR dye and high intensity light that excites tissues surrounding the medical device;
• a photoacoustic and gray-level ultrasound imager configured to construct an image of the medical device and the locations around the medical device from distortions generated as a result of the reaction with the NIR dye and the excitation of the tissues surrounding the medical device;
• and
• an image processor configured to detect and register, based on the constructed image, a relative location of the boundary markers and the medical device.