Two Decades of Fluorescence-Guided Surgery: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Development and Trends in Fluorescence-Guided Surgery

Background: Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) has emerged as a groundbreaking surgical technique in recent decades. As a real-time, non-invasive, and high-resolution diagnostic technology, FGS provides invaluable assistance to surgeons by offering real-time intraoperative navigation. Research on FGS has evolved substantially over time. Despite extensive research on FGS and its potential clinical applications, there is a notable absence of bibliometric analyses in existing studies. This study aims to fill this gap by mapping the knowledge structure and assessing the evolving trends related to FGS. Materials and methods: This study involved searches conducted on the Web of Science Core Collection database, spanning from 2003 to the end of 2023. To explore emerging trends, we integrated the keyword “NIR-II imaging”. The collected data underwent a comprehensive analysis and visualization based on publications, country of origin, authorship, and keywords. We employed bibliometric software such as VOSviewer, CiteSpace, the R bibliometrix package, and Carrot2 for analysis and visualization purposes. Results: The initial analysis of 1693 articles revealed that the most contributing countries were the USA and China. The most relevant topics encompassed clinical applications such as tumor resection and sentinel lymph node mapping. The most frequently occurring keywords included fluorescent dyes, notably 5-aminolevulinic acid and indocyanine green. Furthermore, statistical analyses of institutions and journals revealed that Leiden University was the leading contributor institution, whereas the Journal of Biomedical Optics was the most published journal. Subsequently, 102 publications specifically addressing NIR-II imaging in FGS were identified and subjected to further analyses. Conclusion: This study offers a comprehensive depiction of FGS. The insights obtained from this analysis hold the potential to inform and guide future research in this field.