All-in-one Raman spectroscopy approach to diagnosis of colorectal cancer: analysis of spectra in the fingerprint regions

Abstract

Objectives: Raman spectroscopy yields precise information, not only regarding the secondary structure of proteins but also regarding the discrimination between normal and malignant tissues. There is, however, no standard measurement method. We evaluated the use of a miniaturized, handheld, all-in-one Raman spec- trometer with a 1064-nm laser excitation source for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer. The ultimate goal is real-time, in vivo diagnosis. Methods: Tissue samples were obtained from 20 patients who underwent sur- gery for colorectal cancer. The samples were irradiated with the portable Progeny™ Raman spectrometer, with which the Raman spectra were also obtained. We searched for characteristic Raman shifts and exam- ined whether these shifts could distinguish the cancer tissues. To improve accuracy, we divided the spectra into 100 cm−1 bands and applied principal component analysis (PCA) to each range. We evaluated the con- tribution of each range for cancer discrimination. Results: Intensities at 1261 and 1427 cm−1 differed signifi- cantly between the normal tissues and cancer tissues, but these did not efficiently discriminate the cancer tissues. However, we were able to identify the characteristic spectral range in fingerprint regions; accuracy was 85.1%. Conclusions: Use of the all-in-one type Raman spectrometer can efficiently discriminate col- orectal cancer, not on the basis of the intensities at 1261 and 1427 cm−1 butratheronthe basisofPCA. Thus, Raman spectroscopy performed using a handheld device has potential to become a clinically power- ful tool for producing high-quality data, obtaining highly reproducible measurements, and thus accurately diagnosing colorectal cancer. Keywords: