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3 September 2019 Nonresonant Raman spectroscopy of isolated human retina samples complying with laser safety regulations for in vivo measurements
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Abstract

Retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, are leading causes of vision impairment, increasing in incidence worldwide due to an aging society. If diagnosed early, most cases could be prevented. In contrast to standard ophthalmic diagnostic tools, Raman spectroscopy can provide a comprehensive overview of the biochemical composition of the retina in a label-free manner. A proof of concept study of the applicability of nonresonant Raman spectroscopy for retinal investigations is presented. Raman imaging provides valuable insights into the molecular composition of an isolated ex vivo human retina sample by probing the entire molecular fingerprint, i.e., the lipid, protein, carotenoid, and nucleic acid content. The results are compared to morphological information obtained by optical coherence tomography of the sample. The challenges of in vivo Raman studies due to laser safety limitations and predefined optical parameters given by the eye itself are explored. An in-house built setup simulating the optical pathway in the human eye was developed and used to demonstrate that even under laser safety regulations and the above-mentioned optical restrictions, Raman spectra of isolated ex vivo human retinas can be recorded. The results strongly support that in vivo studies using nonresonant Raman spectroscopy are feasible and that these studies provide comprehensive molecular information of the human retina.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Clara Stiebing, Iwan W. Schie, Florian Knorr, Michael Schmitt, Nanda Keijzer, Robert Kleemann, Izabella J. Jahn, Martin Jahn, Amanda J. Kiliaan, Laurin Ginner, Antonia Lichtenegger, Wolfgang Drexler, Rainer A. Leitgeb, and Jürgen Popp "Nonresonant Raman spectroscopy of isolated human retina samples complying with laser safety regulations for in vivo measurements," Neurophotonics 6(4), 041106 (3 September 2019). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.6.4.041106
Received: 10 April 2019; Accepted: 2 August 2019; Published: 3 September 2019
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CITATIONS
Cited by 18 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Raman spectroscopy

Retina

Optical coherence tomography

Eye

Laser safety

In vivo imaging

Diagnostics

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