1064 nm near‐infrared multichannel Raman spectroscopy of fresh human lung tissues

Raman spectra of fresh human lung tissues without any treatment such as freezing and/or formalin fixation were successfully recorded on a near‐infrared multichannel Raman system developed in our laboratory. It was confirmed that 1064 nm excitation was a requisite for the Raman study of fresh lung tissues; excitation at 785 nm failed to detect any Raman bands because of an extremely high fluorescence background. The observed Raman spectra of lung tissues made a clear distinction between the normal and cancerous states. We also succeeded in obtaining high signal‐to‐noise ratio Raman spectra of coagulated blood and carbon matter engulfed in the lung by scavenger cells. These results demonstrate the feasibility of 1064 nm near‐infrared multichannel Raman spectroscopy for in vivo, non‐invasive and molecular‐level clinical diagnosis of diseases including cancers.