Evaluation of Using Fourier Infrared Spectroscopy and Laser – Raman in Bladder Malignancy Diagnosis

Abstract

Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers in Africa. It takes several days to reach a diagnosis using histological examinations of specimens obtained by endoscope, which increases the medical expense. Spectroscopic analysis of bladder cancer tissues has received considerable attention due to its sensitivity to biochemical variations in the samples. The present study investigated the use of FTIR and laser Raman spectrometer as a diagnose tools of bladder cancer. Fourty two bladder samples were collected from 21 patients during surgery from different hospitals without any pretreatment. FTIR, with a ceramic source, was used to differentiate between normal and cancerous bladder tissues via the change in the spectra of these samples. The investigations detected obvious spectroscopic change in the proteins (1650, 1550 cm-1), lipids (2925, 2850 cm-1) and nucleic acid (1080, 1236 cm-1). With FT Raman spectrometer supplied by Nd:YAG laser, as an excitation source, some of the samples were studied and a significant difference between the normal and cancerous bladder tissues were found around Raman shifts of 1650 cm-1, 1440 cm-1 , 1270 cm-1 and 1080 cm-1 . The comparison between the two techniques showed that Raman spectroscopy holds much promising as a rapid, accurate, nondestructive method, and easy to use as an alternative method for identification and diagnosis of bladder cancerous tissues.