Maintaining health: Optical Spectroscopy for the Assessment of Metabolic tissue aging

In this paper, the use of spectroscopy in optical diagnosis based on the local contrast in the tissue optical properties in diseased tissue versus its surrounding normal is described. Optical techniques diagnostic power can be significantly improved when the optical spectrum from the suspected disease tissue volume is considered relative to that of an apparently normal tissue volume. In particular tissues aging at a higher rate and transforming towards a neoplasm express a different metabolic start than non-transforming tissues of the same chronological age. Dermatology provides a host of information about the environmental impact on tissue aging, expressed in descriptors such as ´Sun damage´ or ´Sun aged´ skin. It also becomes evident that rate of metabolic tissue aging determination requires repeat measurements, simply because our metabolic rates are not constant and subject to changes from various sources.