Schwartz explains that Leica Microsystems has 510(k) clearance to market the Leica FL800 for vascular fluorescence in neurosurgery, cardiovascular surgery and plastic surgery.





"When the Leica FL800 is used for neurosurgery, the patient is injected with a drug called ICG (a fluorescent dye), which travels through the circulatory system. The doctor can then view the blood flow in the brain in real time," she says. "This is important because when the neurosurgeon clips an aneurysm, he or she wants to make sure that it is completely clipped and that no blood is leaking out of that aneurysm. In the past, surgeons had to bring another piece of equipment into the operating room, which takes time and requires another staff member."

The Leica FL800 enables a doctor to look directly through the microscope eyepieces and confirm that the blood is no longer flowing into the aneurysm, but is still flowing in neighboring blood vessels.

"Also," Schwartz continues, "in any type of bypass surgery, the surgeon wants to confirm that there is blood flow through that part of the anatomy. With this fluorescence technology, the surgeon can look through the microscope in real-time and confirm there is blood flow."

Leica Microsystems also has a microscope system for tumor oncology fluorescence, which helps doctors operating on patients with brain tumors called glioblastomas.

"In the past, it was difficult for surgeons to resection tumor tissue from healthy brain tissue, and surgeons had to be very conservative in resection," Schwartz says. "Now, the patient drinks a drug, called 5-ALA approximately six hours before the procedure. Upon reaching the tumor the surgeon flips in a special filter, which causes the tumor cells to be show up in a pink glow. The doctor can identify the tumor cells and be more aggressive in tumor resection, which hopefully can extend a patient's life."

Zeiss has also been aggressive in bringing fluorescence technology to its microscopes, understanding that it can be a lifesaver in the operating room for doctors to see things that can't be viewed with the naked eye. To deliver that ability, Zeiss developed the Infrared 800.

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