Distinction of brain tissue, low grade and high grade glioma with time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy

Neuropathology frozen section diagnoses are difficult in part because of the small tissue samples and the paucity of adjunctive rapid intraoperative stains. This study aims to explore the use of time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy as a rapid adjunctive tool for the diagnosis of glioma specimens and for distinction of glioma from normal tissues intraoperatively. Ten low grade gliomas, 15 high grade gliomas without necrosis, 6 high grade gliomas with necrosis and/or radiation effect, and 14 histologically uninvolved normal brain specimens are spectroscopicaly analyzed and contrasted. Tissue autofluorescence was induced with a pulsed Nitrogen laser (337 nm, 1.2 ns) and the transient