Chapters of history of photomedicine: diagnostic transillumination in the XX-XXI centuries

Abstract

Since the first demonstration of a tissue and organ transilluminator by a graduate of the Kyiv University

V.A. Milliot at the 1867 exhibition in Paris, many enthusiasts have dealt with this diagnostic method. This paper provides an overview of publications from the funds of the Kharkiv Medical Library, materials from the Internet about the “transillumination” method, about Moshe Zelmanovich Sigal, educated at Donetsk Medical Institute, his life path, predecessors and followers.

Studies in transmitted light are based on the differences in the absorption of light by various structures of the body. Transillumination attracts with the possibility of its use during operations. Depending on the relative position of the light source, the object being studied, and the researcher, three types of transillumination are possible: 1) intracavitary — the light source is inserted into the organ cavity; 2) transorgan — the light source 

is located behind the organ; and 3) extracavitary — transillumination is performed from the outside into the hollow organ when the imaging is made using an optical device inserted into the organ cavity. Inflation of a cavity increases the transparency of its walls and allows identifying subtler structures of the body.

Based on transillumination angioscopy, M.Z. Sigal a half century ago developed a technique for lifetime monitoring of blood flow through the intramural vessels of the walls of hollow organs. Due to the difference in the color of blood in the vessels, the veins produce more intense shadow images than the arteries during transillumination. Transillumination angioscopy is possible without contrast agents.

The development of technical means, the emergence of new light sources and its transportation allow modern surgeons to guide the course of the operation until the last suture using transillumination.