Tissue-Light Interaction During Monitoring of Thermal Lesion Using Quantum Dot Mediated Fluorescence Thermometry

As cancer diagnostics advance, tumors are increasingly detected at very early stages so that the tumors can be destroyed in situ by localized heating. This can be achieved minimally invasively or completely non-invasively using various energy sources including laser, RF wave, microwave and ultrasound. Despite many advantages of these thermal therapies, the major huddle to the widespread dissemination of thermal therapy is the lack of a reliable intraoperative monitoring technique of the thermal lesion. Currently available monitoring techniques cannot provide reliable real-time information of thermal lesion due to their limited accuracy or accessibility.