Parathyroid development and judgement
PATHOLOGY
In the NIRAF group, a handheld portable camera (Jinan Microsmart Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd. China) was used. The wavelength of the output light from the near-infrared transmitter was 785 nm. The optical power was 1 mW/cm (The parathyroid glands identified during surgery were jointly judged by two senior surgeons (with more than 5 years of thyroid surgical experience). If both surgeons believed that the indicated tissue was parathyroid, they would not submit it for pathological examination and it would be recorded as correct. If any doctor suspected that the indicated tissue was not parathyroid or other tissues might be parathyroid, small pieces were cut from all suspicious tissues and sent to pathology for diagnosis and exclusion of metastatic lymph nodes or fat. The parathyroid glands identified in the excised specimens or with a completely severed blood supply were autografted. All excised tissues underwent postoperative pathological examination to confirm whether there were inadvertently excised parathyroid glands.