Abstract
The biomedical uses for the spectroscopy of scattered light by micro and nanoscale
objects can broadly be classified into two areas. The first, often called light scattering
spectroscopy (LSS), deals with light scattered by dielectric particles, such as cellular and
sub-cellular organelles, and is employed to measure their size or other physical
characteristics. Examples include the use of LSS to measure the size distributions of nuclei
or mitochondria. The native contrast that is achieved with LSS can serve as a non-invasive
diagnostic and scientific tool. The other area for the use of the spectroscopy of scattered
light in biology and medicine involves using conducting metal nanoparticles to obtain either
contrast or electric field enhancement through the effect of the surface plasmon resonance
(SPR). Gold and silver metal nanoparticles are non-toxic, they do not photobleach, are
relatively inexpensive, are wavelength-tunable, and can be labeled with antibodies. This makes
them very promising candidates for spectrally encoded molecular imaging. Metal nanoparticles
can also serve as electric field enhancers of Raman signals. Surface enhanced Raman
spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful method for detecting and identifying molecules down to
single molecule concentrations. In this review, we will concentrate on the common physical
principles, which allow one to understand these apparently different areas using similar
physical and mathematical approaches. We will also describe the major advancements in each of
these areas, as well as some of the exciting recent developments.
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