Rapid near-infrared Raman spectroscopy system for real-time in vivo skin measurements.

A rapid dispersive-type near-infrared (NIR) Raman spectroscopy system and a Raman probe were developed to facilitate real-time, noninvasive, in vivo human skin measurements. Spectrograph image aberration was corrected by a parabolic-line fiber array, permitting complete CCD vertical binning, thereby yielding a 3.3-16-fold improvement in signal-to-noise ratio. Good quality in vivo cutaneous NIR Raman spectra free of interference from fiber fluorescence and silica Raman scattering can be acquired in less than 1 s, which greatly facilitates practical noninvasive tissue characterization and clinical diagnosis.