Raman piezo-spectroscopic analysis of natural and synthetic biomaterials

Raman piezo-spectroscopy of bone, teeth, and artificial joints is reviewed with emphasis placed on confocal microprobe techniques. Characteristic spectra are presented and quantitative assessments of their phase structure and stress dependence are shown. Vibrational spectroscopy is used here to study the microscopic stress response of cortical bone to external stress (with or without internal damages), to define microscopic stresses across the dentine-enamel junction under increasing external compressive load, and to characterize interactions between prosthetic implants and biological environment. Confocal spectroscopy allows acquisition of spatially resolved spectra and stress imaging with high spatial resolution.