Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy of the cartilage tissue in the fourth optical window

Dmitriy A Nazarov; Georgy M Denisenko; Gleb S Budylin; Elizaveta A Kozlova; Marina M Lipina; Vladimir A Lazarev; Evgeny A Shirshin; Mikhail K Tarabrin

doi:10.1364/BOE.483135

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy of the cartilage tissue in the fourth optical window

Biomed Opt Express. 2023 Mar 10;14(4):1509-1521. doi: 10.1364/BOE.483135. eCollection 2023 Apr 1.

Authors

Dmitriy A Nazarov¹, Georgy M Denisenko^{1

2

3}, Gleb S Budylin³, Elizaveta A Kozlova¹, Marina M Lipina⁴, Vladimir A Lazarev^{1

5}, Evgeny A Shirshin^{3

6}, Mikhail K Tarabrin¹

Affiliations

¹ Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow, 105005, Russia.
² Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow 119991, Russia.
³ Laboratory of Clinical Biophotonics, Biomedical Science and Technology Park, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 119048 Moscow, Russia.
⁴ Department of Trauma, Orthopedics and Disaster Surgery, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow 119991, Russia.
⁵ World-Class Research Center Digital Biodesign and Personalized Healthcare, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 119048 Moscow, Russia.
⁶ Faculty of Physics, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia.

Abstract

Studies of the optical properties of biological tissues in the infrared range have demonstrated significant potential for diagnostic tasks. One of the insufficiently explored ranges for diagnostic problems at the moment is the fourth transparency window, or short wavelength infrared region II (SWIR II). A Cr²⁺:ZnSe laser with tuning capability in the range from 2.1 to 2.4 µm was developed to explore the possibilities in this region. The capability of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to analyze water and collagen content in biosamples was investigated using the optical gelatin phantoms and the cartilage tissue samples during their drying process. It was demonstrated that decomposition components of the optical density spectra correlated with the partial content of the collagen and water in the samples. The present study indicates the possibility of using this spectral range for the development of diagnostic methods, in particular, for observation of the changes in the content of cartilage tissue components in degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis.