Medical illumination systems and devices for illuminating a target surgical area with a pre-selected type of multispectral light to aid tissue differentiation as viewed by the human eye, especially in open-surgery settings, and methods for practicing the same. A light source may have multiple settings selectable to provide various types of multispectral light configured to reduce reflection from corresponding tissue types relative to full-spectrum light. A pre-selected type of multispectral light may be configured to reduce reflection from blood. An illumination system or device can have one more illumination elements, including combinations of LEDs, lasers, and filtered broadband light sources. The multispectral light may be or comprise one or more of a continuous or pulsed wave.
