Luís Manuel Oliveira

Abstract
With the objective of developing new methods to acquire diagnostic information, the reconstruction of the broadband absorption coefficient spectra (mu a[lambda]) of healthy and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma kidney tissues was performed. By performing a weighted sum of the absorption spectra of proteins, DNA, oxygenated, and deoxygenated hemoglobin, lipids, water, melanin, and lipofuscin, it was possible to obtain a good match of the experimental mu a(lambda) of both kidney conditions. The weights used in those reconstructions were estimated using the least squares method, and assuming a total water content of 77% in both kidney tissues, it was possible to calculate the concentrations of the other tissue components. It has been shown that with the development of cancer, the concentrations of proteins, DNA, oxygenated hemoglobin, lipids, and lipofuscin increase, and the concentration of melanin decreases. Future studies based on minimally invasive spectral measurements will allow cancer diagnosis using the proposed approach.

Abstract
The evaluation of the diffusion properties of different molecules in tissues is a subject of great interest in various fields, such as dermatology/cosmetology, clinical medicine, implantology and food preservation. In this review, a discussion of recent studies that used kinetic spectroscopy measurements to evaluate such diffusion properties in various tissues is made. By immersing ex vivo tissues in agents or by topical application of those agents in vivo, their diffusion properties can be evaluated by kinetic collimated transmittance or diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Using this method, recent studies were able to discriminate the diffusion properties of agents between healthy and diseased tissues, especially in the cases of cancer and diabetes mellitus. In the case of cancer, it was also possible to evaluate an increase of 5% in the mobile water content from the healthy to the cancerous colorectal and kidney tissues. Considering the application of some agents to living organisms or food products to protect them from deterioration during low temperature preservation (cryopreservation), and knowing that such agent inclusion may be reversed, some studies in these fields are also discussed. Considering the broadband application of the optical spectroscopy evaluation of the diffusion properties of agents in tissues and the physiological diagnostic data that such method can acquire, further studies concerning the optimization of fruit sweetness or evaluation of poison diffusion in tissues or antidote application for treatment optimization purposes are indicated as future perspectives.

Abstract
In this article, the use of diffuse reflectance (R-d) spectroscopy is explored to evaluate the diffusion properties of water and sucrose in skeletal muscle during optical clearing treatments. Treating muscle samples with sucrose-water solutions with different osmolarities, collimated transmittance (T-c) and R-d measurements were performed to obtain the diffusion time (t) and the diffusion coefficient (D) values that characterize the unique water and sucrose fluxes in the muscle and also the optical clearing mechanisms designated as tissue dehydration and refractive index matching. Considering the R-d measurements, the estimated t and D values for water in the muscle were 63.1s and 1.72x10(-6) cm(2)/s, while the ones estimated for sucrose were 261s and 4.86x10(-7) cm(2)/s. Comparing these values with the ones estimated from the T-c measurements, the relative differences observed for t and D were 1.6% and 2.8% in the case of water and 0.3% and 0.4% in the case of sucrose.

Abstract
A distinctive feature of this review is a critical analysis of methods and results of measurements of the optical properties of tissues in a wide spectral range from deep UV to terahertz waves. Much attention is paid to measurements of the refractive index of biological tissues and liquids, the knowledge of which is necessary for the effective application of many methods of optical imaging and diagnostics. The optical parameters of healthy and pathological tissues are presented, and the reasons for their differences are discussed, which is important for the discrimination of pathologies and the demarcation of their boundaries. When considering the interaction of terahertz radiation with tissues, the concept of an effective medium is discussed, and relaxation models of the effective optical properties of tissues are presented. Attention is drawn to the manifestation of the scattering properties of tissues in the THz range and the problems of measuring the optical properties of tissues in this range are discussed. In conclusion, a method for the dynamic analysis of the optical properties of tissues under optical clearing using an application of immersion agents is presented. The main mechanisms and technologies of optical clearing, as well as examples of the successful application for differentiation of healthy and pathological tissues, are analyzed. (c) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Abstract
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