Raman spectroscopy of bone

Raman spectroscopy is capable of extracting parameters related to both bone health and strength. In this project, we are studying the effect of glucocorticoids (a class of steroid hormone that is used to relieve the joint stiffness and pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis) upon the overall health and fragility of bone. In order to make in vivo transcutaneous measurements of bone, we utilize a variation of Raman spectroscopy known as spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS). This allows us to penetrate a few millimeters of overlying soft tissue to recover the spectrum of the underlying bone. A recent publication in Applied Spectroscopy from our laboratory discusses the ideal optical geometry for a SORS instrument.

More recently, we have shown that we can successfully deduce the spectrum of a bone specimen even in the presence of overlying soft tissue (see our Publications list). Currently this project is beginning measurements on living mice and will be monitoring chemical changes in bone as a function of age and disease.