The development of mid-infrared endoscopy for the detection of malignant cells and progress towards the in-vivo optical biopsy using new optical Chalc

中红外（MIR）光纤，例如由硫系玻璃组成的光纤，具有辐射包含生物组织光谱指纹区域的波长（~3-14 μ m）的潜力。已知MIR吸收取决于分子结构；因癌症等疾病而改变的特征计算分析能够明确区分健康细胞和恶性细胞的吸收光谱，从而消除了对传统使用且存在严重缺陷的组织病理学“金标准”的需求，用于癌症检测和诊断。目前MIR内窥镜是不可用的，但是，如果发展，将使成像和化学绘图的内部问题，如子宫内膜，在体内。这将使实时癌症诊断的光学活检成为可能，除了帮助外科医生在癌症诊断后绘制癌症边缘，以便在手术中切除。

Mid-infrared (MIR) fibre-optics, such as those comprised of Chalcogenide based glasses, have the potential to radiate wavelengths encompassing the spectral fingerprint region of biological tissue (~3-14 um). MIR absorption is known to vary dependending on molecular structure; a feature altered with diseases such as cancer. Computational analysis enables the definitive distinction between the absorption spectra of healthy and malignant cells, nullifying the need for the traditionally used and highly flawed 'Gold Standard' of histopathology for cancer detection and diagnosis. Currently MIR endoscopes are unavailable however, if developed, would enable the imaging and chemical mapping of internal issues, such as endometrium, in-vivo. This would enable an optical biopsy for cancer diagnosis in real-time, in addition to aiding surgeons post cancer diagnosis in mapping cancer margins for removal during surgery.