Towards Clinico-Pathological Application of Raman Spectroscopy

As the possibilities in the treatment of diseases continue to evolve, early detection and correct diagnosis of pathological changes have become increasingly important. Pathology literally means the study (logos) of suffering (pathos), and it is essentially the discipline that bridges basic science and clinical practice by studying the structural and functional changes in diseased cells, tissues and organs. The focus of diagnostic pathology is to label the morphological and molecular changes in cells and tissues so that the appropriate therapeutic action can be taken. Histopathology is still the “gold standard” of assessing abnormal changes in tissues. In order to make a pathological diagnosis, it is required that changes in the tissues available for evaluation are representative of the disease. Tissue samples are usually obtained by biopsy procedures. Because usually only limited real-time information is available regarding the nature of the tissues to be sampled, sampling errors tend to occur. Another risk induced by lack of real-time information about the nature of diseased tissues, as compared to their normal environment, is incomplete surgical removal of tumor tissue. Therefore, the identification of biochemical characteristics of tissues which are indicative of a particular abnormality or disease and subsequent incorporation of such characteristics in sampling procedures will improve diagnostic accuracy. The same accuracy may assist surgeons in more precise targeting and removing of lesions.

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