1. A system for intra-operatively providing anatomical guidance in a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure, comprising: (a) a lamp configured to emit a beam of visible light to an area of interest of a living subject; (b) a laser configured to emit a beam of near-infrared light to the area of interest; (c) an optical probe optically coupled to the laser but not optically coupled to the lamp, comprising an optical fiber configured to deliver the emitted beam of near-infrared light to illuminate the area of interest and configured to collect light that is scattered or emitted from a contrast agent introduced into target tissues in the area of interest, in response to illumination by the laser; (d) a spectrometer optically coupled to the optical probe and configured to detect the collected light and to generate a corresponding signal that comprises collected light data, and wherein the optical probe is further configured to transmit the collected light to the spectrometer through the optical fiber; (e) a first CCD or CMOS camera configured to detect visible light that is emitted from the area of interest in response to illumination by the lamp and to generate a corresponding signal comprising visible light data; (f) a second CCD or CMOS camera configured to detect near-infrared light having a first predetermined wavelength that is emitted from the area of interest in response to illumination by the laser and to generate a corresponding signal comprising a first set of near-infrared light data; (g) a third CCD or CMOS camera configured to detect near-infrared light having a second predetermined wavelength that is different from the first predetermined wavelength and that is emitted from the area of interest in response to illumination by the laser, and to generate a corresponding signal comprising a second set of near-infrared light data; (h) a display for displaying at least one visual representation of data; and (i) a central processing unit, a processor, or a microprocessor in communication with each of the lamp, laser, spectrometer, first CCD or CMOS camera, second CCD or CMOS camera, third CCD or CMOS camera, and display, and programmed to generate at least one real-time integrated visual representation of the area of interest from each of the collected light data, visible light data, first set of near-infrared light data, and second set of near-infrared light data and to display the at least one real-time visual representation on the display, for guidance during the diagnostic or therapeutic procedure.