Diagnostic Tissue Spectroscopy and Its Applications to Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Optical spectroscopic methods are playing an increasingly important role in medicine, and gastrointestinal endoscopy is likely to be one of the most important areas of impact of the new technology. This article will familiarize endoscopists with basic technologies of diagnostic spectroscopies, discuss the types of information they provide, and describe how they can be incorporated in endoscopic instruments, The discussion focuses on 4 fundamental light-tissue interactions: elastic scattering, absorption, fluorescence, and Raman scattering. The physical basis of each technique and its mode of implementation in endoscopic applications are presented. We discuss the limitations and advantages of each technique, as well as research that uses spectroscopic approaches for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal disease. Finally, we discuss future directions in spectral diagnostic endoscopy. 9 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.