Reflect: reporting guidelines for preclinical, translational and clinical fluorescence molecular imaging studies
Fluorescence molecular imaging (FMI) is becoming a powerful tool to improve surgical precision and diagnostics. Although significant advances have been made in imaging technology and contrast agents, debate continues regarding suitable standards for FMI. Standardizing all FMI aspects is crucial for adoption in clinical procedures and routine practice. Currently, the lack of clear-cut guidelines on FMI study reporting complicates comparison between studies and impedes standardization. This work presents community-driven REFLECT guidelines for FMI study reporting for fluorescence-guided surgery and interventions, covering preclinical, translational, and clinical studies. It aims to improve quality of reporting, enable comparison between studies, and enhance interpretation of results. The resulting structured checklist encompasses all essential details for reporting on the contrast agent, imaging device, imaging protocol, and image processing and analysis methods. Adoption of this framework is encouraged to enhance reproducibility and establish alignment with standardization efforts in the field - thus fostering advancements in FMI.
Authors
- Marcus C. M. Stroet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7331-7135)
- Sophie Hernot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8739-6137)
- Sam Floru (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2385-5947)
- Schelto Kruijff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5151-7320)
- Alexander L. Vahrmeijer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9370-0011)
- Hans Ingelberts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5144-4320)
- Dimitris Gorpas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9576-8087)
- Kenneth M. Tichauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1667-3026)
- Bas Keizers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3798-7702)
- Vasilis Ntziachristos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9988-0233)
- Edward J. Delikatny (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5234-3724)
- Sylvain Gioux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3006-5345)
- Floris J. Voskuil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3740-4554)
- Summer L. Gibbs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8077-1582)
- Stephan Rogalla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1311-2672)
- Kimberley S. Samkoe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8234-2308)
- Stefano Giuliani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4555-3093)
- Laura Mezzanotte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5592-8904)
- Ethan P. M. LaRochelle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7883-9987)
- Eben Lloyd Rosenthal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0294-5203)
- Max J. H. Witjes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4135-3246)
- P. J. van der Zaag (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9080-4907)
- Meedie Ali (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0846-9033)
- Jelena Saliën (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6968-5835)
Institutions
- Dartmouth College (US)
- University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- Illinois Institute of Technology (US)
- Leiden University Medical Center (NL)
- Great Ormond Street Hospital (GB)
- Helmholtz Zentrum München (DE)
- Intuitive Surgical (Switzerland) (CH)
- White River Junction VA Medical Center (US)
- German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DE)
- The London College (GB)
- Erasmus MC Cancer Institute (NL)
- University College London (GB)
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center (US)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Imaging
- Published
- 2025-11-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44303-025-00125-8
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.44
Funders
- Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislaufforschung
- European Commission
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme