Method and device for monitoring the fluorescence emitted at the surface of a biological tissue

A method comprising monitoring diffusion over time of a fluorescent marker that has been injected into a biological tissue at an injection-time, said method comprising using an excitation light source, exciting said fluorescent marker and, during an interval that begins after said injection-time and ends at an end-time, using a camera to acquire fluorescence images of an area of said biological tissue, wherein each of said fluorescence images corresponds to a set of pixels, wherein a value of a signal that represents an intensity of fluorescence emission at a point in said tissue is associated with each pixel in said set of pixels, wherein using said camera to acquire said fluorescence images comprises executing first and second image-acquisition sequences, said first image-acquisition sequence starting at a first start-time after said injection-time and said second image-acquisition sequence starting at a second start-time after said injection-time, wherein said method further comprises comparing first and second images, said first image being a result of having processed images from said first image-acquisition sequence and said second image being a result of having processed images from said second image-acquisition sequence and displaying, on a screen, a result of said comparison, said result being an image representative of said area of said biological tissue.

An apparatus for monitoring fluorescence emitted from a surface of a biological tissue, said apparatus comprising an excitation source, a camera, a computer, and a screen, wherein said excitation source is configured for emitting excitation radiation that excites a fluorescence marker, wherein said camera comprises a sensor that senses fluorescence light emitted as a result of said excitation radiation, wherein said computer is configured to record, store, images captured by said camera and to execute computer-readable instructions for processing said images by carrying out said method recited in claim 1, and wherein said screen is configured to display images that result from said computer having processed said fluorescence images.