Real-time percutaneous optical imaging of anatomical structures in the heart through blood using a catheter-based infrared imaging system.

The ability to optically image structures and instrumentation within the heart during procedures is limited by the presence of blood in the field. The goal of our research was to design, develop, and evaluate technology for a catheter-based optical imaging system that enables intracardiac and intravascular visualization in real time through blood. Based on Mie optical scattering theory, imaging through blood using infrared light was theoretically feasible, but scattering in the near-infrared wavelengths (1100 to 1300 nm) generated substantial noise in the image despite relatively low absorption.