Potential new endoscopic techniques for the earlier diagnosis of pre-malignancy

Light interacts with tissue in a variety of ways, including absorption, flu orescence, elastic scattering and Raman scattering. These interactions enab le a number of promising technologies for endoscopic diagnosis of pre-malig nancy, including chromoscopy; fluorescence, scattering and Raman spectrosco pies; and optical coherence tomography. Although still in various stages of technical development and clinical trials, these optical diagnostic techni ques are demonstrating strong potential to significantly enhance the clinic al endoscopist's ability to detect dysplasia in gastrointestinal mucosae.