Types of Raman Scattering Techniques for Neurodegenerative Diseases

As human life expectancy has increased, age-related neurodegenerative disorders (NDs) are emerging as one of the greatest health and social threats of the twenty-first century. Most NDs manifest clinical symptoms at an advanced stage after the disease onset, making it difficult to detect before irreversible degenerative alterations in the brain occur. As a result, understanding the neural mechanisms and early detection of ND are crucial for enhancing human health and quality of life. Raman spectroscopy and microscopy techniques allow for label-free, video-rate data acquisition without any sample preparation, making them a viable tool for disease detection early on. Raman-based approaches can be employed in vivo for early diagnosis of NDs as they are noninvasive. They require simple instrumentation and enable non-destructive sample analysis, which makes them useful for real-time diagnosis. Here, we outline the various Raman spectroscopic and microscopic techniques with a special focus on their application as a diagnostic tool for neurodegenerative diseases.