Optical biopsy and optical pathology: Affordable health care under low-resource settings

In this paper the potential of optical spectroscopy based techniques for regular screening and early diagnosis of “Killer” diseases (various types of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, etc.) is discussed with focus on routine use under low-resource settings. A brief account of work carried out in our laboratory to design, assemble and optimize Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) based optical devices for routine screening, early diagnosis and discrimination of premalignant/malignant conditions in oral and other cancers is presented. An ultra-sensitive protein profiling system based on highly efficient High Performance Liquid Chromatograpy-Ultrasensitive Laser Induced Fluorescence (HPLC-LIF) detection, and its extensive use in monitoring various cancers, coronary conditions, gynecological problems etc. through protein profile pattern analyses of markers in body fluids is also discussed.