To provide a surgical instrument having an optical system for accurately positioning jaws associated with the surgical instrument relative to the tissue section, and furthermore to provide a surgical instrument having a reference chart or graph for comparing images observed through the optical system with known reference images to more accurately position the surgical instrument relative to the tissue.

The surgical instrument includes: a housing; at least one jaw extending from the housing; a light source positioned on the at least one jaw; and a light pipe with fiber optic imaging bundle extending between the at least one jaw and the housing. The light pipe with fiber optic imaging bundle has a first end positioned on the at least one jaw and a second end positioned on the housing, such that an image illuminated by the light source on the at least one jaw is visible at the housing.