Valorization addendum on early biliary tract delineation using near‐infrared fluorescence cholangiography, Chapter 3), this can also lead to a cost reduction. In a time of cut‐backs on health‐care costs, such cost‐reduction is of great economical relevance and this can very well be achieved by implementation of innovative optical techniques in the operating room of the future. Moreover, besides for technicians (medical technologists) and medical specialists (e.g. surgeons), the results of this thesis are also of interest for patients and patient societies. It can create awareness for the general public that there is a realistic hope for better intraoperative detection of vital tissue structures, which can result in safer and more efficient surgical procedures. Another interesting fact: since 2002 the health care sector is the most important sector of employment in the Netherlands, and the proportion of health care in total employment is still growing. Altogether there are about 870,000 jobs in this sector. Although many highly educated people are working in health care, the number of jobs for highly educated persons itself is not increasing. An increase of highly technical jobs is mainly found in the development of drugs and medical devices. These categories are particularly interesting for the Netherlands, as these can also strengthen our export position9. Perspective on knowledge utilization From the scope of this thesis, exploration of new intraoperative optical techniques and development of enhanced visualization chains for both open and endoscopic surgery is a goal of the project. As a matter of fact, the exploration of optical imaging/spectro‐scopy techniques might ultimately be interesting for all camera‐linked interventions in medicine. In this way the entire medical community can benefit. This thesis offers some new insights on medical photonics and hopefully there will follow next steps to make medical photonics contribute to patients’ well‐being. 197
proefschrift_Schols_SLV
To see the actual publication please follow the link above