Improving skin Raman spectral quality by fluorescence photobleaching

Here we present a method for improving Raman spectroscopy signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) based on fluorescence photobleaching. Good SNR is essential to obtain biochemical information about biological tissues. Subtracting high levels of tissue autofluorescence background is a major challenge in extracting weak Raman signals. We found that pre-exposure to laser light significantly reduces tissue autofluorescence, but minimally affects Raman signals, allowing subsequent acquisition of high-SNR Raman spectra. We demonstrated this method with in vivo Raman spectral measurements of human skin. This method will benefit clinical skin Raman measurements of body sites with high autofluorescence background such as the forehead and nose. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.