Measurement of abnormal bone composition in vivo using noninvasive Raman spectroscopy

X-ray-based diagnostic techniques, which are by far the most widely used for diagnosing bone disorders and diseases, are largely blind to the protein component of bone. Bone proteins are important because they determine certain
mechanical properties of bone and changes in the proteins have been associated with a number of bone diseases. Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS) is a chemically specific analytical technique that can be used to retrieve information noninvasively from both the mineral and protein phases of the bone material in vivo. Here we demonstrate that SORS can be used to detect a known compositional abnormality in the bones of a patient suffering from the genetic
bone disorder, osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition which affects collagen. The confirmation of the principle that bone diseases in living patients can be detected noninvasively using SORS points the way to larger studies that focus on osteoporosis and other chronic debilitating bone diseases with large socioeconomic burdens.