Light for Life—Optical Spectroscopy in Clinical Settings †

Diagnosing diseases in our bodies requires the measurement of physiological biomarkers non-invasively. Assessing biomarker levels is a key step in this process. Light allows for non-invasive assessment of disease in tissue. Here, I give my perspective on the use of light for diagnosis with examples of research conducted by our research team, focusing on two conditions: oral cancer and fetal hypoxia diagnosis. In the case of oral cancer, we look at the spatially localized diagnosis of cancer tissue in the oral cavity. In the case of fetal hypoxia, we look at temporal changes in physiological conditions for diagnosis. In both cases, we see the potentially transformative impact of optical spectroscopy on clinical diagnosis.