This focal point article discusses the developments of biomedical Raman and infrared spectroscopy, and the recent strive towards being a recognised clinical tool for various applications. The promise of vibrational spectroscopy in the field of biomedical science, alongside the development of computational methods for spectral analysis, has driven a plethora of proof-of-concept studies which convey the potential of various spectroscopic approaches. Here we report a brief review of the literature published over the past few decades, with a focus on the current technical, clinical and economic barriers to translation, namely the limitations of many of these early studies, the lack of understanding of clinical pathways, health technology assessments, regulatory approval, clinical feasibility and funding applications. The field of biomedical vibrational spectroscopy must acknowledge and overcome these hurdles in order to achieve clinical efficacy. Current prospects have been overviewed with comment on the advised future direction of spectroscopic technologies, with the aspiration that many of these innovative approaches can ultimately reach the frontier of medical diagnostics and other clinical applications.

这篇焦点文章讨论了生物医学拉曼和红外光谱的发展，以及最近努力成为各种应用的公认临床工具。振动光谱学在生物医学领域的前景，以及光谱分析计算方法的发展，推动了大量的概念验证研究，这些研究传达了各种光谱方法的潜力。在这里，我们对过去几十年发表的文献进行简要回顾，重点关注当前翻译的技术、临床和经济障碍，即许多这些早期研究的局限性、对临床途径缺乏了解、健康技术评估、监管批准、临床可行性和资金申请。生物医学振动光谱学领域必须承认并克服这些障碍，以实现临床疗效。对当前前景进行了概述，并对光谱技术的未来发展方向发表了评论，希望这些创新方法中的许多最终能够达到医学诊断和其他临床应用的前沿。