title: Review: in vivo optical spectral tissue sensing-how to go from research to routine clinical application?
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. l.d.boer@nki.nl.
authors.forename: Lisanne L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jarich W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Spliethoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Biomedical Engineering and Physics, Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Henricus J C M
authors.initials: HJCM
authors.lastname: Sterenborg
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|MIRA Institute, University of Twente, Building Zuidhorst, Room ZH 116, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Theo J M
authors.initials: TJM
authors.lastname: Ruers
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D006801:Humans; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical
keywords: Clinical translation; Fiber-optic; Optical spectroscopy; Progress; Tissue diagnosis