Emerging clinical applications in oncology for non‐invasive multi‐ and hyperspectral imaging of cell and tissue autofluorescence

Abstract

Hyperspectral and multispectral imaging of cell and tissue autofluorescence is an emerging technology in which fluorescence imaging is applied to biological materials across multiple spectral channels. This produces a stack of images where each matched pixel contains information about the sample's spectral properties at that location. This allows precise collection of molecularly specific data from a broad range of native fluorophores. Importantly, complex information, directly reflective of biological status, is collected without staining and tissues can be characterised in situ, without biopsy. For oncology, this can spare the collection of biopsies from sensitive regions and enable accurate tumour mapping. For in vivo tumour analysis, the greatest focus has been on oral cancer, whereas for ex vivo assessment head-and-neck cancers along with colon cancer have been the most studied, followed by oral and eye cancer. This review details the scope and progress of research undertaken towards clinical translation in oncology.