ABSTRACT
The optical analysis of single cells or thin biological specimens, such as cells and tissue slices, plays an important role in many clinical and biological diagnostic studies, including the evaluation of diagnostic biopsies and the examination of live tissue metabolism in real time. Several optical techniques are available to study
ex vivo
biological specimens and serve as probes of human disease and biological function. These
include microscopic imaging techniques and spectroscopy. Diagnostic tests based on fluorescent labels of cellular metabolism as well as intrinsic fluorescence, elastic scattering, and Raman scattering from natural biomolecules have all been described. Typically, fluorescence and Raman scattering techniques are used to identify or localize specific biochemical entities. However, an important aspect of tissue diagnosis is based on assessing cellular and subcellular morphology. The morphological analysis of cells and subcellular organelles is the primary objective of biomedical optical techniques based on elastic light scattering.
