Cook Medical has announced that it’s making available the Cellvizio Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (CLE) System from Mauna Kea Technologies, a company based in Paris, France. Using the system, urologists can microscopically analyze the cellular structure of tissues during ureteroscopic and cystoscopic procedures without taking any samples.

The system comes with a choice of reusable probes that integrate a scanning laser and a detector that records the close-up image produced. A probe is introduced through an endoscope and the tip placed against the tissue of interest. The generated image is then displayed as real-time video on the Cellvizio system’s computer screen. The physician can move about and sample different tissues as necessary and for as long as required.

Mauna Kea is touting that the Cellvizio technology is already in use in 550 clinics in over 40 countries around the world.

Some more about the Cellvizio according to the product page:

Cellvizio Images come from a very thin focal plane that is optically projected into the tissues. This optical slicing plays the role of the physical slicing of endoscopically extracted tissue samples (or biopsies) as done in standard histology.

Cellvizio Confocal Miniprobes™ are compatible with any endoscope and standard reprocessing method. Cellvizio probes can be inserted into the operating channel of any endoscope, much like the manner in which biopsy forceps are used.