Pathology correlations with optical biopsy techniques.

Traditional surgical pathology predicts the future course of a patient's disease based on subjective comparison of the biopsy with the outcome of similar biopsies that have been seen previously. Optical techniques are being designed to aid the clinician in evaluating the patients' tissue in vivo. These technologies assess the disease process itself, associated structural alterations or do not have a known physical basis. These techniques will have an almost immediate application in directing the location to biopsy. The true optical biopsy where a definitive diagnosis is made by in vivo optical technology is a laudable goal, but only a few such applications are likely to become available in the near future. In addition to these approaches, the movement towards telemedicine is going to increase the demand for this type of technology for remote monitoring at home as well as in hospital settings.