1064 nm near-infrared multichannel Raman spectroscopy of fresh human lung tissues

Raman spectra of fresh human lung tissues without any treatment such as freezing and/or formalin fixation were successfully recorded on a near-infrared multichannel Raman system developed in our laboratory. It was confirmed that 1064 nm excitation was a requisite for the Raman study of fresh lung tissues; excitation at 785 nm failed to detect any Raman bands because of an extremely high fluorescence background. The observed Raman spectra of lung tissues made a clear distinction between the normal and cancerous states. We also succeeded in obtaining high signal-to-noise ratio Raman spectra of coagulated blood and carbon matter engulfed in the lung by scavenger cells. These results demonstrate the feasibility of 1064 nm near-infrared multichannel Raman spectroscopy for in vivo, non-invasive and molecular-level clinical diagnosis of diseases including cancers. Copyright (C) 2005 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.