Author: Marwan Belal AbuHaija, Anis Ahmad, Chase Prescott Anderson, Nesrin Dogan, John C. Ford, Alan Pollack, Junwei Shi, Jorge D Vega, Gabriel Enrique de Hostos 👨🔬
Affiliation: University of Miami, University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center 🌍
Purpose: Raman Spectroscopy (RS) is a non-invasive, label free imaging modality that gathers intrinsic molecular vibrational information. Portable RS systems expand affordability and convenience, supporting real-time feedback in surgery and biopsy as well as point of care. This study aims to explore the application of portable RS in radiotherapy, evaluating whether any complementary information is offered in radiation induced tissue response.
Methods: A 785 nm wavelength portable RS system (iRaman Prime) was used at 306 mW power and 700 ms exposure times. Renal tissues were harvested from mice subjected to localized kidney irradiation, with 0 Gy control (n=2) and 14 Gy irradiated (n=3) groups. Tissue collection occurred 2 days to 1 week post-irradiation, after which samples were frozen to preserve molecular integrity. Tissues were thawed for 30 minutes in PBS, and placed on aluminum foil to avoid the high fluorescence background during RS analysis. A total of 29 spectra were collected (21 treated and 8 control) at different regions, using a translation stage. Post RS collection, denoising and baseline removal were performed on MatLab using a Savitzky-Golay and moving average filter respectively. Biochemical changes were analyzed by correlating molecular vibrations with RS wavenumber shifts. Specific focus was placed on regions associated with DNA damage (Amide I bands), protein alterations (tryptophan, phenylalanine), and lipid deformation.
Results: RS revealed distinct molecular and compositional disparities between irradiated and non-irradiated renal tissues. Significant differences were observed in wavenumber regions associated with tryptophan, phenylalanine, C-N protein clusters, and Amide I band deformation. Irradiated tissues displayed increased variability in high-wavenumber regions (1900–2200 cm⁻¹), indicative of molecular damage linked to irradiation.
Conclusion: This preliminary study verifies the feasibility of a portable RS system in capturing biochemical signatures for real-time, label-free assessment of RT-induced tissue response. This approach could pave the way for integrating RS techniques into radiotherapy.