Background Estimation of Biomedical Raman Spectra Using a Geometric Approach

Raman spectroscopy grows into an essential tool for biomedical applications. Nevertheless, the weak Raman signal associated mainly with biological samples is often obscured by a broad background signal due to the intrinsic fluorescence of the organic molecules present, making further analysis unfeasible. A computational geometry method based on the definition of convex hull is described to estimate the background from Raman spectra of samples with biological interest. The method is semiautomated requiring sample‐dependent user intervention. It does not depend, however, on curve fitting, requires no information about background distribution or source, and keeps the original spectral data intact.