Laser-induced fluorescence diagnosis; LIFD; Photodynamic diagnostics; Tissue spectroscopy

Fluorescence diagnostics are procedures designed to detect neoplastic tissues based upon spectroscopic recognition of tissue-specific accumulations of natural or artificial fluorescing molecules (fluorophores).

Certain fluorescing dyes selectively accumulate in cancer cells and may, since fluorescing molecules are very rare in the biological environment, serve for sensitive detection of early cancerous lesions in human tissues without interfering with tissue integrity. Some of the dyes used for photodynamic therapypresent a strong fluorescence, and since they localize to malignant tumors, early attempts were made to use these dyes for tumor diagnosis. Polyporphimer sodium (Photofrin®), for example, is a more effective purified fraction of the classical hematoporphyrinderivate (HpD), which has now obtained clinical approval for various indications in several...