Continuous-Wave Stimulated Raman Scattering (cwSRS) Microscopy

Intraoperative imaging in pathology-assisted surgery

The pathological assessment of surgical specimens during surgery can reduce the incidence of positive resection margins, which otherwise can result in additional surgeries or aggressive therapeutic regimens. To improve patient outcomes, intraoperative spectroscopic, fluorescence-based, structural, optoacoustic and radiological imaging techniques are being tested on freshly excised tissue. The specific clinical setting and tumour type largely determine whether endogenous or exogenous contrast is to be detected and whether the tumour specificity of the detected biomarker, image resolution, image-acquisition times or penetration depth are to be prioritized. In this Perspective, we describe current clinical standards for intraoperative tissue analysis and discuss how intraoperative imaging is being implemented. We also discuss potential implementations of intraoperative pathology-assisted surgery for clinical decision-making.

Comparison of continuous wave versus picosecond SRS and the resonance SRS effect

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is a powerful optical technique for probing the vibrational states of molecules in biological tissues and provides greater signal intensities than when using spontaneous Raman scattering. In this study, we examined the use of continuous wave (cw) and picosecond (ps) laser excitations to generate SRS signals in pure methanol, a carotene-methanol solution, acetone, and brain tissue samples. The cw-SRS system, which utilized two cw lasers, produced better signal-to-noise (S/N) than the conventional ps-SRS system, suggesting that the cw-SRS system is an efficient and cost-effective approach for studying SRS in complex systems like the brain. The cw-SRS approach will reduce the size of the SRS system, allowing for stimulated Raman gain/loss microscopy. In addition, we showed that there exists a resonance SRS (RSRS) effect from the carotene-methanol solution and brain tissue samples using cw laser excitations. The RSRS effect will further improve the signal-to-noise and may be utilized as an enhanced, label-free SRS microscopic tool for the study of biological tissues.

Continuous-Wave Coherent Raman Spectroscopy via Plasmonic Enhancement

In this paper, we report a successful combination of stimulated Raman spectroscopy (SRS) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) using cw laser sources and gold/silica nanoparticles with embedded reporter molecules. We describe the preparation method for our gold/silica nanoparticles as well as the effect of probe wavelength, pump and probe power, polarization and sample concentration on the cwSESRS signal. Altogether, a stable ~12 orders of magnitude enhancement in the stimulated Raman signal is achieved because of the amplification of both pump and probe beams, leading to the detection of pico-molar nanoparticle concentrations, comparable to those of SERS. The coherent Raman spectra matches the incoherent conventional Raman spectra of the reporter molecules. Unlike conventional incoherent SERS this approach generates a coherent stimulated signal of microwatt intensities, opening the field to applications requiring a coherent beam, such as Molecular Holography.

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering under frequency comb excitation

We study the efficiency of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) under frequency comb excitation. We calculate the power density of the anti-Stokes signal for two major cases: (1) molecular excitation by frequency comb and cw probe and, (2) both excitation and probing by frequency combs. In the first case, average CARS power varies as an inverse third degree of frequency combs free spectral range (FSR^-3); in the second case, it varies as FSR^-5. These results were applied to the CARS on blood glucose under frequency comb excitation. It was found that the resulting glucose CARS signal could approach nanowatt (nW) level at FSR=10  GHz.

Developments in spontaneous and coherent Raman scattering microscopic imaging for biomedical applications

First, the potential role of Raman-based techniques in biomedicine is introduced. Second, an overview about the instrumentation for spontaneous and coherent Raman scattering microscopic imaging is given with a focus of recent developments. Third, imaging strategies are summarized including sequential registration with laser scanning microscopes, line imaging and global or wide-field imaging. Finally, examples of biomedical applications are presented in the context of single cells, laser tweezers, tissue sections, biopsies and whole animals.

Subcellular measurements of mechanical and chemical properties using dual Raman-Brillouin microspectroscopy

Brillouin microspectroscopy is a powerful technique for noninvasive optical imaging. In particular, Brillouin microspectroscopy uniquely allows assessing a sample's mechanical properties with microscopic spatial resolution. Recent advances in background-free Brillouin microspectroscopy make it possible to image scattering samples without substantial degradation of the data quality. However, measurements at the cellular- and subcellular-level have never been performed to date due to the limited signal strength. In this report, by adopting our recently optimized VIPA-based Brillouin spectrometer, we probed the microscopic viscoelasticity of individual red blood cells. These measurements were supplemented by chemically specific measurements using Raman microspectroscopy.

Pure electrical, highly-efficient and sidelobe free coherent Raman spectroscopy using acousto-optics tunable filter (AOTF)

Fast and sensitive Raman spectroscopy measurements are imperative for a large number of applications in biomedical imaging, remote sensing and material characterization. Stimulated Raman spectroscopy offers a substantial improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio but is often limited to a discrete number of wavelengths. In this report, by introducing an electronically-tunable acousto-optical filter as a wavelength selector, a novel approach to a broadband stimulated Raman spectroscopy is demonstrated. The corresponding Raman shift covers the spectral range from 600 cm⁻¹ to 4500 cm⁻¹, sufficient for probing most vibrational Raman transitions. We validated the use of the new instrumentation to both coherent anti-Stokes scattering (CARS) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) spectroscopies.

Electronically tunable coherent Raman spectroscopy using acousto-optics tunable filter

Fast and sensitive Raman spectroscopy measurements are imperative for a large number of applications in biomedical imaging, remote sensing and material characterization. In this report, by introducing an electronically-tunable acousto-optical filter as a wavelength selector, we demonstrated a novel instrumentation to the broadband coherent Raman spectroscopy. System's tunability allows assessing Raman transitions ranging from <400 cm(-1) to 4500 cm(-1). We validated the use of the new instrumentation by collecting coherent anti-Stokes spectra and stimulated Raman spectra of various samples.