Assessing a fiber probe-based approach to detect near infrared fluorescence for identifying and preserving parathyroid glands during neck surgeries

Abstract

Identifying parathyroid glands can be challenging for surgeons during head and neck operations. For the surgeon, it becomes essential to preserve healthy parathyroid glands, while successfully removing diseased parathyroid glands. This study presents PTeye – a commercial fiber probe-based device that was designed for intraoperative parathyroid identification by detecting near infrared autofluorescence. The results of this study demonstrate that PTeye had 95% accuracy in identifying parathyroid glands in 78 patients. The device had an overall detection rate of 97% for healthy and diseased parathyroid glands. PTeye could also quantify parathyroid vascularity in real-time by using indocyanine green during neck surgeries.