Fluorescence Spectroscopy: An Emerging Excellent Diagnostic Tool in Medical Sciences

Abstract Abstract In this review article, the diagnostic applications of fluorescence spectroscopy (FS) in subspecialties of medical sciences are reviewed. The main purpose of this article is to present a critical report on various diagnostic applications of FS. Fluorescence spectroscopy is an emerging excellent diagnostic tool for many diseases, especially in the diagnosis of early stage cancers. Fluorescence spectroscopy is shown to be a more sensitive and rapid diagnostic tool with high efficiency compared to many routine medical diagnostic tools. However, there is still a great need for clinical trials and studies on a large scale to establish the validity of this new diagnostic technique. There is a need to highlight this issue among the scientific community. Current research, available instrumentation, and proposed areas that should be the focus of future research are presented and discussed in this review article. Keywords: Fluorescence spectroscopymodern diagnostic toolsfluorescence correlation spectroscopymedical sciences Acknowledgment The authors acknowledge "The Vienna Science and Technology Fund" (WWTF), Vienna, Austria, for the generous funding of Mathematics and Biology call 2007 project.