Fourier-transform vs. quantum-cascade-laser infrared microscopes for histo-pathology: From lab to hospital?

IR microscopy was first conceptualized in 1949 and the first commercial system was launched 1983. With the appearance of FPA detectors in the 90's, FTIR microscopy became a technique of choice for histology. Two decades later, the release of QCLs working in the mid-IR range refuels this promise by accelerating tremendously the acquisition of IR images for large tissue areas with high-quality spectra for chemical mapping of parameters of interest.