ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the current literature on intraoperative Infrared (IR) optical imaging techniques used in neurosurgery, with particular emphasis on tumor, vascular, and functional applications. It summarizes optical image-guided surgery technologies that employ IR, near-IR, and/or ultraviolet ranges of light. IR technologies are rapidly gaining popularity in the interdisciplinary fields of neuroscience, neurology, and neurosurgery. IR light is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is greater than visible light and less than that of radio waves. Human body temperature is influenced by a multitude of internal biological factors; hence, any deviation from normal may provide insights into pathophysiological anomalies. The initial use of diagnostic thermal imaging was known as human thermography, which was introduced in 1956 when Robert Lawson observed a higher temperature on the skin over breast cancer than the skin over normal breast tissue.
