Wide-field spontaneous Raman spectroscopy imaging system for biological tissue interrogation

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Spectroscopy
• Medical Instrumentation

Background:

• Raman spectroscopy is a valuable tool for differentiating cancerous from normal tissues in oncology.
• Existing Raman spectroscopy instruments often rely on microscopy or invasive probes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a practical handheld macroscopic Raman spectroscopy instrument.
• To demonstrate the instrument's capability in discriminating between different biological tissue types ex vivo.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel handheld Raman spectroscopy probe with a 25 mm² field of view and <100 μm spatial resolution.
• Acquisition of Raman spectra in the 450–1750 cm⁻¹ fingerprint region with an average spectral resolution of 95 cm⁻¹.
• Utilizing a neural network machine learning technique for tissue mapping based on molecular characteristics.

Main Results:

• Successful discrimination between different biological tissue types using the handheld Raman probe.
• Demonstration of macroscopic tissue analysis capabilities ex vivo.
• Generation of tissue maps based on molecular signatures.

Conclusions:

• The developed handheld Raman spectroscopy instrument shows promise for practical macroscopic tissue analysis.
• This technology could advance non-invasive tissue discrimination in various oncology applications.
• Further development may lead to improved diagnostic tools for cancer detection.