Raman spectroscopy has enabled incredible advances in numerous
scientific fields and is a powerful tool for tissue
classification and disease recognition, although there have been
considerable challenges to using the method in a clinical
setting. Scientists have now demonstrated the advantages of
wavelength-modulated Raman spectroscopy, opening the door to
wider biomedical and clinical applications such as real-time
assessment of tissues during surgery. This study is published in
Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging. The inelastic scattering of
light from any sample is called the Raman effect, named for the
Nobel prize-winner C.V. Raman. It yields a molecular fingerprint
related to the intrinsic composition of the sample. With the
advent of lasers for excitation, this analytical technique has
been applied in many disciplines from mineral investigations to
protein structure determination and single cell studies. The
technique enables cancerous lesions, which are accompanied by
changes in chemical composition co