ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to provide, mainly through specific examples, an overview of current and emerging optics-based techniques and technologies for active guidance of therapeutic interventions. The primary focus is on applications in oncology and specifically in the treatment of patients with solid tumors, but it is not difficult to see how some of the approaches could be used in other major therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular and neurological diseases and even in management of patients with localized infections. That is, the concepts apply to any situation where the physician intervenes by a treatment that is locally targeted to diseased tissue and where additional information can help guide the treatment and so improve the outcome.
