Optical diagnostics of liver pathology

The applicability of reflectance spectroscopy to detect pathological changes in human liver tissue was investigated. Post mortem reflectance spectra were collected from liver tissue originating from 13 individuals. A point counting method was applied to determine relative areas of connective tissue, liver cells with or without fat vacuoles, and vascular spaces in the liver. Preliminary results show that thea mount of fat and connective tissue in liver can be estimated from reflectance spectra.