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.