Fluorescence-guided surgery: the quest for precision

The ever-mounting pressure on surgeons to improve efficacy, safety and financial outcomes of their work, has driven them, and the industry, to seek ways for enhancing operative precision. We certainly need to delineate, beyond doubt, lesions that are supposed to be completely removed, as well as structures that ought to be preserved. One way to achieve this goal is to augment visualization at surgery using fluorescence techniques. The concept of fluorescence-guided surgery is based on making the target tissue shine by light emanating from within, thus standing out in the operative field more prominently, while the surgeon is actually at work, i.e., offering real-time augmented visualization.