Direct raman imaging spectroscopy of lung cancer cells and apoptotic cells

A Raman spectroscopic technique enables to observe intracellular molecules without fixation or labeling procedures in situ. We demonstrated a classification of human lung cancer cells with Raman spectroscopy and principal component analysis. Normal lung cell-lines and 4 pathological types of cancer cell-lines were seeded on culture dishes and examined. It was as a preliminary study for direct Raman imaging spectroscopy, which could be available for clinical use, to diagnose cancer. The result suggests that Raman spectroscopy could be a complementary method for immunohistology study. We also constructed a new direct Raman imaging system consisting of a high sensitive CCD image sensor, narrow band pass-filters, and a background-free electrically tunable Ti:Sapphire laser. The observation wavelengths can be switched immediately for the purpose of malignancy rapid diagnosis or real time measurement for apoptotic cells. The potential ability of the direct Raman imaging system is supposed to evaluate apoptosis by UV irradiation and anticancer drug-treatment for living lung cancer cells.