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Review: in vivo optical spectral tissue sensing—how to go from research to routine clinical application?

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Abstract

Innovations in optical spectroscopy have helped the technology reach a point where performance previously seen only in laboratory settings can be translated and tested in real-world applications. In the field of oncology, spectral tissue sensing (STS) by means of optical spectroscopy is considered to have major potential for improving diagnostics and optimizing treatment outcome. The concept has been investigated for more than two decades and yet spectral tissue sensing is not commonly employed in routine medical practice. It is therefore important to understand what is needed to translate technological advances and insights generated through basic scientific research in this field into clinical practice. The aim of the discussion presented here is not to provide a comprehensive review of all work published over the last decades but rather to highlight some of the challenges found in literature and encountered by our group in the quest to translate optical technologies into useful clinical tools. Furthermore, an outlook is proposed on how translational researchers could proceed to eventually have STS incorporated in the process of clinical decision-making.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Lisanne L. de Boer, Jarich W. Spliethoff, Henricus J. C. M. Sterenborg & Theo J. M. Ruers

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering and Physics, Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Henricus J. C. M. Sterenborg

  3. MIRA Institute, University of Twente, Building Zuidhorst, Room ZH 116, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Theo J. M. Ruers

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  1. Lisanne L. de Boer
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  2. Jarich W. Spliethoff
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Correspondence to Lisanne L. de Boer.

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Lisanne L. de Boer and Jarich W. Spliethoff contributed equally to this work.

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de Boer, L.L., Spliethoff, J.W., Sterenborg, H.J.C.M. et al. Review: in vivo optical spectral tissue sensing—how to go from research to routine clinical application?. Lasers Med Sci 32, 711–719 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-016-2119-0

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