Patients with oral cavity cancer are often treated with surgery. The goal is to remove the tumor
with a margin of > 5 mm of surrounding healthy tissue. Unfortunately, this is only achieved in
about 15% to 26% of cases. Intraoperative assessment of tumor resection margins can dramatically
improve surgical results. However, current methods are laborious, subjective, and logistically
demanding. This hinders broad adoption of IOARM, to the detriment of patients.
Therefore, an objective easy-to-use technique is needed, to accurately assess all resection margins intraoperatively. The role of photonic techniques in general will be discussed and the development of a high-wavenumber Raman spectroscopic technology, for quick and objective intraoperative measurement of resection margins will be presented.
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