Patent 7438894 was granted and assigned to Mallinckrodt (company) on October, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Highly hydrophilic indole and benzoindole derivatives that absorb and fluoresce in the visible region of light are disclosed. These compounds are useful for physiological and organ function monitoring. Particularly, the molecules of the invention are useful for optical diagnosis of renal and cardiac diseases and for estimation of blood volume in vivo.