Phase‐sensitive fluorescence detector for parathyroid glands during thyroidectomy: a preliminary report

Despite advances in medical technology, the parathyroid glands are still damaged during thyroid surgery. Our previous studies exploring methods for locating the parathyroid glands using autofluorescence have limitations, such as turning off the surgical light or requiring additional matching between the autofluorescence image and real-surgical field-of-view. We developed a probe-type parathyroid autofluorescence detector using a phase-sensitive process and optical filtering to overcome these limitations. A preliminary clinical trial was performed on eight parathyroid glands in four patients. The normalized mean signal of the normal parathyroid glands was 332% stronger than that of the thyroid, and 384%, 459% and 286% stronger than the signal of the muscle, trachea and fat, respectively. Additionally, the device also detected fluorescence from indocyanine green.