Abstract

While the concept of using light-activated drugs for medical therapeutics has been investigated actively over the last 20 years, and photodynamic therapy (PDT) has now been approved as a clinical procedure for various forms of cancer in different countries, the last few years have seen major advances, both in the understanding of the photophysical/photochemical/photobiological processes involved and in the availability of clinically-viable technologies for light generation and delivery and for in vivo dosimetry of this form of treatment.

© 1999 Optical Society of America