Mechanical properties of hard tissues play an important role in understanding underlying biological structures, as well as assessing the quality of artificial bone replacement materials. In this study, we employed Brillouin spectroscopy as a non-invasive approach to probe the microscopic elasticity of hard tissues, such as bones. Brillouin spectra were collected using a background free virtually imaged phased array spectrometer. As a reference, Raman spectra were also acquired for each imaging point. Experimental results reveal a positive correlation between the local concentration of the mineral content and the corresponding tissue stiffness, assessed through a Brillouin shift.

Date Published: 6 April 2015
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 9303, Photonic Therapeutics and Diagnostics XI, 930342 (6 April 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2080334

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9303:
Photonic Therapeutics and Diagnostics XI
Hyun Wook Kang; Brian J. F. Wong M.D.; Melissa C. Skala; Bernard Choi; Guillermo J. Tearney M.D.; Andreas Mandelis; Nikiforos Kollias; Kenton W. Gregory M.D.; Mark W. Dewhirst D.V.M.; Justus F. Ilgner M.D.; Alfred Nuttal; Haishan Zeng; Laura Marcu; Claus-Peter Richter, Editor(s)