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Raman Spectroscopy in Skeletal Tissue Disorders and Tissue Engineering: Present and Prospective
Marco Fosca1, Valentina Basoli2, Elena Della Bella2
1Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ISM-CNR), Via del Fosso del Cavaliere, Rome, Italy.
Tissue Engineering. Part B, Reviews
|September 28, 2021
Summary
Raman spectroscopy (RS) offers a rapid, label-free method to analyze skeletal tissues, providing molecular insights for diagnosing musculoskeletal disorders and guiding regenerative medicine. This non-destructive technique enhances diagnostics and quality control for tissue engineering applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Spectroscopy
- Materials Science
Background:
- Musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of chronic pain and disability, imposing a significant socioeconomic burden.
- Current diagnostic methods for skeletal tissues often lack the molecular specificity and non-destructive capabilities needed for comprehensive analysis.
- Raman spectroscopy (RS) presents a novel approach for in situ, label-free, and non-destructive analysis of biological tissues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the biomedical applications of Raman spectroscopy (RS) for skeletal tissues.
- To highlight RS's potential in studying tissue alterations related to aging, pathologies, and regenerative medicine.
- To discuss the advantages, limitations, and clinical translation challenges of RS in skeletal tissue analysis.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent literature on Raman spectroscopy applications in skeletal tissues (tendons, ligaments, cartilage, bone, tissue-engineered constructs).
- Description of basic principles of RS and enhanced signal techniques.
- Discussion of spectral processing, statistical tools, and databases for RS data analysis.
Main Results:
- Raman spectroscopy provides a comprehensive molecular profile of skeletal tissues in situ, rapidly, label-free, and non-destructively.
- RS offers molecular information beyond conventional diagnostic tools and is compatible with hydrated, unfixed samples.
- Preclinical studies demonstrate RS's utility in evaluating tissue-engineered constructs and understanding disease-related alterations.
Conclusions:
- Raman spectroscopy is a powerful, non-invasive tool for molecular fingerprinting of biological samples.
- RS has significant potential for clinical diagnostics, quality control of tissues, and tissue-engineered constructs.
- Further development is needed to overcome challenges for the widespread clinical translation of RS in skeletal tissue applications.
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