Photothermal and photoacoustic Raman cytometry in vitro and in vivo

An integrated Raman-based cytometry was developed with photothermal (PT) and photoacoustic (PA) detection of Raman-induced thermal and acoustic signals in biological samples with Raman-active vibrational modes. The two-frequency, spatially and temporally overlapping pump-Stokes excitation in counterpropagating geometry was provided by a nanosecond tunable (420-2300 nm) optical parametric oscillator and a Raman shifter (639 nm) pumped by a double-pulsed Q-switched Nd:YAG laser using microscopic and fiberoptic delivery of laser radiation. The PA and PT Raman detection and imaging technique was tested in vitro with benzene, acetone, olive oil, carbon nanotubes, chylomicron phantom, and cancer cells, and in vivo in single adipocytes in mouse mesentery model. The integration of linear and nonlinear PA and PT Raman scanning and flow cytometry has the potential to enhance its chemical specificity and sensitivity including nanobubble-based amplification (up to 10-fold) for detection of absorbing and nonabsorbing targets that are important for both basic and clinically relevant studies of lymph and blood biochemistry, cancer, and fat distribution at the single-cell level. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America