Raman microspectroscopy: shining a new light on reproductive medicine

BACKGROUND The last 20 years have seen an enormous upsurge in the number of publications reporting findings obtained by Raman spectroscopy, a non-invasive, non-destructive method which uses the inelastic scattering of light to provide a 'fingerprint' of the sample's chemical composition and constituents. Long neglected because of practical difficulties, the technique has been transformed by recent technological advances into a powerful analytical tool capable of opening avenues of investigation that were previously out of the reach of biomedical scientists. Beyond introducing the approach and describing its relative merits and weaknesses, the aim of this review is to provide a spur for discussion of what may become an invaluable tool for biomedical investigations. METHODS A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted searching PubMed and Ovid databases using numerous MeSH terms associated with reproductive medicine. Furthermore, the reference lists of all reported literature were explored. The searches were restricted to English language articles published in the last 50 years. RESULTS Beginning with simple characterizations of biologically and medically important substances, aided by increasing technological sophistication, the use of Raman spectroscopy in biomedicine has quickly expanded to the investigation of complex biochemical interactions, the assessment of organelles and now the evaluation of living cells and tissue. The first Raman investigations of reproductive organs were primarily oncological in nature; however, the past few years have seen an increase in the application of the technique for the assessment and evaluation of both male and female gametes. In particular, progress has been made in the characterization, identification and localization of sperm nuclear DNA damage. CONCLUSIONS The use of Raman spectroscopy has already provided many tantalizing glimpses into the potential that the technique has to answer many of the unresolved issues in investigative and therapeutic reproductive medicine. However, without stringent assessment and the clear representation of the methods' findings, their true meaning cannot be revealed nor should any conclusions be hastily derived. For the potential of Raman microspectroscopy to be truly realized, the dependability and reliability of the technique and its results can only be ascertained by multidisciplinary collaborations that undertake carefully conducted, controlled and analysed studies.