Introduction to Infrared and Raman-Based Biomedical Molecular Imaging and Comparison with Other Modalities

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 25; no. 23; p. 5547
• Main Author: Geraldes, Carlos F G C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26-11-2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Algorithms; Animals; bio-imaging; Biomarkers; Biomedical materials; Body fluids; Computed tomography; Diagnostic systems; Electric fields; Energy; Humans; Image contrast; infrared; Infrared imaging; Infrared Rays; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medical imaging; Models, Theoretical; Molecular Imaging - methods; Molecular Imaging - standards; multimodal imaging; Nanoparticles; Photon emission; Positron emission; Positron emission tomography; Proteins; Raman; Review; Single photon emission computed tomography; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; Spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; Spectrum Analysis, Raman; Tomography; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Ultrasonography; Ultrasound; vibrational spectroscopy; bio-imaging; vibrational spectroscopy; Raman; infrared; multimodal imaging
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules25235547

Molecular imaging has rapidly developed to answer the need of image contrast in medical diagnostic imaging to go beyond morphological information to include functional differences in imaged tissues at the cellular and molecular levels. Vibrational (infrared (IR) and Raman) imaging has rapidly emerged among the molecular imaging modalities available, due to its label-free combination of high spatial resolution with chemical specificity. This article presents the physical basis of vibrational spectroscopy and imaging, followed by illustration of their preclinical in vitro applications in body fluids and cells, ex vivo tissues and in vivo small animals and ending with a brief discussion of their clinical translation. After comparing the advantages and disadvantages of IR/Raman imaging with the other main modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography/single-photon emission-computed tomography (PET/SPECT), ultrasound (US) and photoacoustic imaging (PAI), the design of multimodal probes combining vibrational imaging with other modalities is discussed, illustrated by some preclinical proof-of-concept examples.