Application driven assessment of probe designs for Raman spectroscopy.

In vivo Raman spectroscopy has been utilized for the non-invasive, non-destructive assessment of tissue pathophysiology for a variety of applications largely through the use of fiber optic probes to interface with samples of interest. Fiber optic probes can be designed to optimize the collection of Raman-scattered photons from application-dependent depths, and this critical consideration should be addressed when planning a study. Herein we investigate four distinct probe geometries for sensitivity to superficial and deep signals through a Monte Carlo model that incorporates Raman scattering and fluorescence. Experimental validation using biological tissues was performed to accurately recapitulate in vivo scenarios. Testing in biological tissues agreed with modeled results and revealed that microlens designs had slightly enhanced performance at shallow depths (< 1 mm), whereas all of the beampath-modified designs yielded more signal from deep within tissue. Simulation based on fluence maps generated using ray-tracing in the absence of optical scattering had drastically different results as a function of depth for each probe compared to the biological simulation. The contrast in simulation results between the non-scattering and biological tissue phantoms underscores the importance of considering the optical properties of a given application when designing a fiber optic probe. The model presented here can be easily extended for optimization of entirely novel probe designs prior to fabrication, reducing time and cost while improving data quality.