| abstract |
Methods and devices for practicing fluorescence spectroscopy to detect abnormal or cancerous tissue employing an transparent fluoropolymer optical probe to irradiate a target region of biological material and measure the fluorescent response of the target tissue. Based on the spectral response of the target region, the presence (or absence) of abnormal tissue can be determined. Transparent fluoropolymers reduce background fluorescence, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio in spectral analysis, because fluoropolymers have low self-fluorescence and, therefore, do not respond to ultraviolet excitation radiation with significant fluorescence of their own that would otherwise mask or interfere with the fluorescent radiation collected from a target tissue region in response to UV excitation radiation. |