Info
Talk Summary:
Optical imaging is fundamental to modern endoscopy and surgery, enabling clinicians to detect, characterize, navigate, and treat disease in real time. Yet most current approaches remain largely dependent on anatomy, morphology, and indirect optical contrast. Important clinical challenges persist, including the detection of subtle or occult disease, delineation of tumor margins, identification of microscopic residual disease, and characterization of tissue beyond what can be appreciated visually.

Using gastrointestinal endoscopy and image-guided surgery as clinical frameworks, this presentation will examine how optical imaging is used in practice today, where current technologies fall short, and how emerging approaches may address these unmet needs. Advances in fluorescence molecular imaging, photoacoustic imaging, Raman spectroscopy, spectral imaging, and artificial intelligence are creating opportunities to move beyond visualization of tissue toward real-time interrogation of tissue biology.

These innovations also raise a critical question for the molecular imaging community: what must a new imaging technology demonstrate to become clinically meaningful? Improved image quality or biological specificity alone may not be sufficient. Successful translation requires a clearly defined clinical need, integration into existing workflows, reproducible and interpretable signals, appropriate probe and device development, and ultimately evidence that the technology improves clinical decision-making and patient outcomes.

The goal of this presentation is to provide a clinical perspective on where optical imaging stands today, highlight areas in which new technologies could have the greatest impact, and define some of the translational challenges that must be overcome to move promising discoveries into routine clinical practice. The next generation of optical imaging should not simply allow us to see more—it should help us make better decisions in real time.

Presenter Biography:
Stephan Rogalla, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Vanderbilt University and a physician-scientist focused on the clinical translation of molecular and optical imaging technologies. Previously on the faculty at Stanford University, his research spans targeted fluorescence imaging, advanced endoscopy, image-guided surgery, and molecular imaging for the detection and characterization of cancer and precancerous disease. A major focus of his work is developing technologies that provide actionable biological information in real time and can be integrated into clinical workflows. Dr. Rogalla serves as Co-Chair of the Optical Surgical Navigation Interest Group of the World Molecular Imaging Society and has led translational efforts spanning imaging-agent and device development through clinical implementation.

Author
Stephan Rogalla
Vanderbilt University