Abstract

Histopathology of cells and tissues is the golden standard for clinical diagnostics. Raman-based methods have been suggested to as a complementary histopathological tool. The most attractive feature of Raman spectroscopy is that inherent molecular vibrations provide a specific fingerprint of specimens in a label-free and nondestructive way. Images can be collected with microscopic resolution that probe the biochemistry and morphology of tissue sections. Multivariate classification models are trained to correlate the Raman spectra and images with the tissue type and disease state. Examples include to grade primary brain tumors, delineate tumor margins and determine the origin of brain metastases. After coupling to fiber optic probes, Raman spectra can also be collected in vivo under real time conditions. Such procedure offers the possibility to assess tissue before taking biopsies or resecting suspicious tissues. Another promising application of Raman spectroscopy is the detection and enumeration of tumor cells that circulate in the blood of cancer patients. The presentation gives an overview about the principles, results and prospects to solve such unmet needs by Raman spectroscopy.

© 2017 Optical Society of America