Fourier-transform vs. quantum-cascade-laser infrared microscopes for histo-pathology: From lab to hospital?

Abstract IR microscopy was first conceptualized in 1949 and the first commercial system was launched 1983. With the appearance of FPA detectors in the 90's, FTIR microscopy became a technique of choice for histology. Two decades later, the release of QCLs working in the mid-IR range refuels this promise by accelerating tremendously the acquisition of IR images for large tissue areas with high-quality spectra for chemical mapping of parameters of interest. The new QCL-IR imaging system allows a 150× faster spectral data acquisition at equivalent S/N level. The quality of spectral data is comparable while applying spectral curve-fitting treatments, thus showing that laser sources offer reliable signal over a large spectral range. If QCL-IR imaging system seem to offer the opportunity to develop routines for anatomo-pathology, several technological challenges stand in front of us to reach this goal to define the specs of an IR microscope dedicated to hospital.