Optical spectroscopy methods have had considerable impact in the field of biomedical diagnostics, providing novel methods for the early or noninvasive diagnosis of various medical conditions. Among them, fluorescence spectroscopy has been the most widely explored mainly because fluorescence is highly sensitive to the biochemical makeup of tissues. It has been shown that tumors were easily detected on account of altered fluorescence properties with respect to fluorescence of ordinary tissue. Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among women in the world and also it is one of the leading causes of deaths from cancer for the female population. However, when detected in early stage, it is one of the most treatable forms of cancer. Therefore, fluorescence technologies could be highly beneficial in early detection and timely treatment of cancer. This chapter presents main results and conclusions that have been reported on the use of fluorescence spectroscopy for the investigation of breast cancer. It also gives an overview on the instruments and methodology of measurements, on the main endogenous fluorophores present in tissues, on the tissue fluorescence, and on the statistical methods that aid interpretations of fluorescence spectra. Finally, examples of using various fluorescence techniques, such as excitation, emission and synchronous spectroscopy, excitation-emission matrices, and lifetimes, for the breast cancer diagnosis are presented.
Part of the book: Applications of Molecular Spectroscopy to Current Research in the Chemical and Biological Sciences
Titanium dioxide is a wide band‐gap semiconductor of high chemical stability, nontoxicity and large refractive index. Because of the high photocatalytic activity, anatase is a preferred TiO2 form in many applications such as for air and water splitting and purification. Doping of TiO2 with various ions can increase the photocatalytic activity by enhancing light absorption in visible region and can alter structure, surface area and morphology. Also, by doping TiO2 with optically active ions, visible light via up‐ or downconversion luminescence can be produced. It is a challenge to optimize the synthesis procedure to incorporate rare earth RE3+ ions into the TiO2 structure due to large mismatch in ionic radii between the Ti4+ and RE3+ and because of the charge imbalance. Visible (VIS) and ultraviolet (UV) luminescence of several RE3+ ions can be obtained when incorporated into anatase TiO2, also affecting microstructural characteristics of TiO2. It is of great importance to summarize publications on rare earth‐doped anatase TiO2 nanoparticles to find correct TiO2-RE combination to sensitize trivalent rare earths luminescence, as well as to predict or tune structural and morphological properties. A better understanding on these topics may progress the desired design of this kind of material towards specific applications.
Part of the book: Titanium Dioxide