ORAL PATHOLOGY FOLLOW-UP BY MEANS OF MICRO-RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY ON BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES: AN APPLICATION OF WAVELET AND MULTIVARIATE DATA ANALYSIS

Micro-Raman Spectroscopy (m-RS) provides a unique tool for a not invasive and real time analysis of biological tissues and fluids. Based on the evaluation of molecular vibration frequencies, the m-RS is able to detect the main molecular bonds of protein constituents. Changes in frequency or in the relative intensity of the vibration modes revealed by m-RS can be related to changes of chemical bond and of protein structure induced by pathology. The m-RS has been performed on samples of oral tissue and blood serum from informed patients, affected by pemphigus vulgaris (PV, an oral pathology). The main protein bonds are clearly detectable in the considered samples and this give important information on the integrity and on the state of samples (lipids and proteins). Here, we report the results of our micro-Raman spectroscopy study on tissue and blood serum samples from ill, recovered and under therapy PV patients. The complexity of the differences among their characteristic Raman spectra has required a specific strategy. For this purpose, wavelet techniques and advanced multivariate analysis methods have been developed and promising results have been obtained.