Application of Near-infrared Fluorescent Imaging in Thoracic Surgery

Several surgical manipulations, such as pulmonary nodules location, intraoperatively mapping on pulmonary segmental-and subsegmental bronchi and sentinel lymph node mapping, are intractable problems in clinical practice. The application of near-infrared fluorescent imaging of indocyanine green to evaluate the situations of blood perfusion and lymphatic drainage in human tissues has been proved to be a safe fluorescence angiography technique and widely used in clinical practice. However, the application of this technique in thoracic surgery is relatively few. Here, we reviewed the reports using near-infrared fluorescent imaging of indocyanine green to evaluate blood perfusion, lymph node mapping, thoracic mapping, etc. in animal model and clinical trials, showing its promising prospects in thoracic surgery.