# US 2026/0262995 A1 · Combined fluorescence and laser speckle contrast imaging system and applications of same

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- Number: US 2026/0262995 A1
- Document ID: US20260262995A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 19/434,577
- Filed: 2025-12-29
- Published: 2026-09-10
- Earliest claimed: 2018-11-02
- Assignees: Vanderbiltuniversity
- Applicants: Vanderbiltuniversity
- Inventors: Emmanuel A. Mannoh; Anita Mahadevan-Jansen
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20260262995A1

## CPC

- A61B 5/415: {the glands, e.g. tonsils, adenoids or thymus}
- G01N 21/6486: {Measuring fluorescence of biological material, e.g. DNA, RNA, cells (G01N21/6428 takes precedence)}
- A61B 5/0035: {adapted for acquisition of images from more than one imaging mode, e.g. combining MRI and optical tomography}
- A61B 5/0036: {including treatment, e.g., using an implantable medical device, ablating, ventilating}
- A61B 5/0071: {by measuring fluorescence emission}
- A61B 5/0075: {by spectroscopy, i.e. measuring spectra, e.g. Raman spectroscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy (A61B5/0071 takes precedence)}
- A61B 5/0077: {Devices for viewing the surface of the body, e.g. camera, magnifying lens}
- A61B 5/0084: {for introduction into the body, e.g. by catheters (A61B5/1459 takes precedence)}
- A61B 5/0086: {using infrared radiation}
- A61B 5/418: {lymph vessels, ducts or nodes}
- A61B 5/4227: {endocrine glands, i.e. thyroid, adrenals, hypothalamic, pituitary}
- A61B 5/4504: {Bones (A61B5/4547 takes precedence)}
- A61B 5/4887: {Locating particular structures in or on the body}
- A61B 5/742: {using visual displays (displays for heart-related electrical signals, e.g. ECG, A61B5/339)}
- A61B 34/20: Surgical navigation systems; Devices for tracking or guiding surgical instruments, e.g. for frameless stereotaxis
- G01N 21/6456: {Spatial resolved fluorescence measurements; Imaging}
- G01N 21/65: Raman scattering
- A61B 2034/2055: {Optical tracking systems}
- A61B 2505/05: Surgical care
- G01N 2021/479: {Speckle}
- G01N 2021/6439: {with indicators, stains, dyes, tags, labels, marks}
- G01N 2201/0221: Portable; cableless; compact; hand-held
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)

## Abstract

A method for intraoperative assessment of parathyroid gland viability of a living subject for guidance in a surgery comprises providing a beam of light to illuminate a target of interest; acquiring individually auto-fluorescence images and laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) images of light from the illuminated target of interest responsive to the illumination; and processing the acquired auto-fluorescence and LSCI images for intraoperative guidance in a surgery.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for intraoperative assessment of parathyroid gland viability of a living subject for guidance in a surgery, comprising:
providing a beam of light to illuminate a target of interest;
acquiring individually auto-fluorescence images and laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) images of light from the illuminated target of interest responsive to the illumination; and
processing the acquired auto-fluorescence and LSCI images for intraoperative guidance in a surgery.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein said processing the acquired auto-fluorescence and LSCI images comprises:
cropping a background-subtracted auto-fluorescence image to remove first pixels on each edge;
thresholding the cropped auto-fluorescence image into first, second and third intensity levels using a multiple thresholding scheme, wherein the first intensity level is corresponding to a low intensity background;
setting the second intensity level equal to the low intensity background, resulting in an image having a distinction between the parathyroid gland of interest and everything else;
filtering the resulted image using a two-dimensional Gaussian to locate a dominant cluster of points, wherein the dominant cluster of points is corresponding to the parathyroid gland;
converting the filtered image to an edge map; and
fitting an active contour model to the edge map to obtain the contour demarcating the parathyroid gland.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein said processing the acquired auto-fluorescence and LSCI images further comprises, prior to said the background-subtracted auto-fluorescence image:
filtering an acquired auto-fluorescence image with a Gaussian profile; and
registering the filtered auto-fluorescence image to a first speckle contrast image.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein said processing the acquired auto-fluorescence and LSCI images further comprises:
imaging an irregular grid by two cameras to determine a rigid transformation that aligns the fields of the two cameras together, wherein one of the two cameras is adapted for acquiring the auto-fluorescence images and the other of two cameras is adapted for acquiring the LSCI images.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the rigid transformation is determined using an intensity-based image registration.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein said processing the acquired auto-fluorescence and LSCI images comprises:
after obtaining the contour, applying the rigid transformation to demarcate the parathyroid gland in the first speckle contrast image of the acquired series of speckle contrast images;
registering the remaining subsequent speckle contrast images of the acquired series of speckle contrast images into the first speckle contrast image using a discrete Fourier transform registration that only accounts for translation;
averaging the acquired series of speckle contrast images to obtain the average speckle contrast of the parathyroid area within the transformed contour so as to improve spatial resolution; and
converting the value to a percent likelihood of parathyroid devascularization using a logistic regression model.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising for displaying the speckle contrast images of the parathyroid gland in real-time.

### Claim 8

A non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause a method for processing auto-fluorescence and LSCI images for intraoperative guidance in a surgery to be performed, wherein the a method comprising:
cropping a background-subtracted auto-fluorescence image to remove first pixels on each edge;
thresholding the cropped auto-fluorescence image into first, second and third intensity levels using a multiple thresholding scheme, wherein the first intensity level is corresponding to a low intensity background;
setting the second intensity level equal to the low intensity background, resulting in an image having a distinction between the parathyroid gland of interest and everything else;
filtering the resulted image using a two-dimensional Gaussian to locate a dominant cluster of points, wherein the dominant cluster of points is corresponding to the parathyroid gland;
converting the filtered image to an edge map; and
fitting an active contour model to the edge map to obtain the contour demarcating the parathyroid gland.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein said processing the acquired auto-fluorescence and LSCI images further comprises, prior to said the background-subtracted auto-fluorescence image:
filtering an acquired auto-fluorescence image with a Gaussian profile; and
registering the filtered auto-fluorescence image to a first speckle contrast image.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein said processing the acquired auto-fluorescence and LSCI images further comprises:
imaging an irregular grid by two cameras to determine a rigid transformation that aligns the fields of the two cameras together, wherein one of the two cameras is adapted for acquiring the auto-fluorescence images and the other of two cameras is adapted for acquiring the LSCI images.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the rigid transformation is determined using an intensity-based image registration.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein said processing the acquired auto-fluorescence and LSCI images comprises:
after obtaining the contour, applying the rigid transformation to demarcate the parathyroid gland in the first speckle contrast image of the acquired series of speckle contrast images;
registering the remaining subsequent speckle contrast images of the acquired series of speckle contrast images into the first speckle contrast image using a discrete Fourier transform registration that only accounts for translation;
averaging the acquired series of speckle contrast images to obtain the average speckle contrast of the parathyroid area within the transformed contour so as to improve spatial resolution; and
converting the value to a percent likelihood of parathyroid devascularization using a logistic regression model.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising for displaying the speckle contrast images of the parathyroid gland in real-time.