IRaman: Breakthrough biomedical microscope with simultaneous infrared and Raman spectroscopy at sub-micron spatial resolution

Anasys Instruments proposes to develop an optical platform that combines confocal Raman spectroscopy with infrared spectroscopy with sub micron spatial resolution on a single optical microscope based platformpatents pendingInfrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy are separately extremely successful and complementary techniques for chemical composition analysisInfrared spectroscopy characterizes samples by detecting absorption of infrared light by dipole moment changes induced in molecular bond vibrationsRaman spectroscopy detects scattered light that wavelength shifted by a sample due to molecular vibrations that induce changes in polarizabilityThe techniques are highly complementary because molecular vibrations that are strong IR absorbers are typically weak Raman scatterers and vice versaConventional IR spectroscopy has two significant limit fundamental limitationsspatial resolution limited by optical diffraction from its longer wavelengths to the scale of many micronssample preparation is often complexrequiring preparation of thin IR transparent samplesThese limitationalong with sample preparation complexities have limited applicability of IR spectroscopy in many life sciences applicationsDifferences in IR and Raman wavelength rangeslight sources and detectors have also made it impossible to obtain IR and Raman spectroscopy from the same sample regionAs a resultthere is no currently available instrument that can perform infrared and Raman analysis on the same sample with sub micron spatial resolution for both techniquesWe propose to overcome this limitation developing and demonstrating the applicability of the IRaman platform which will provide simultaneous and complementary IR and Raman analysis in the same instrumentThis project will leverage the recent invention of sub micron photothermal IR spectroscopya technique that uses a tightly focused visible laser to probe the infrared absorption on a scaleX smaller than the IR optical diffraction limitComplementary Raman measurements will be obtained by using the same visible laser beam in combination with a Raman spectrometer to excite and detect Raman scattering in the sampleA Prototype instrument will be built to demonstrate utility of simultaneous IR Raman technique in a couple of high value biomedical applicationsAnasys has extensive experience in successful commercialization of breakthrough IR analysis products based on photothermal physics Anasys Instruments Proprietary and ConfidentialProject narrative Raman and IR spectroscopy are complementary techniques that can provide critical information about microscopic chemical compositionbut to date incompatibilities between the two techniques has made it impossible to perform simultaneous IR and Raman measurementsThis SBIR project will overcome the previous barrierdeveloping a breakthrough instrument for biomedical imaging that will enable simultaneous IR and Raman spectroscopy on the same platform while providingX better spatial resolution than conventional infrared spectroscopy