top of page

Raman Spectroscopic Diagnostics of Osteoarthritis

  • Osteoarthritis (OA) is an incapacitating, chronic condition characterized by the degeneration of articular cartilage. No disease modifying treatment for OA currently exists.

​

  • A significant impediment to developing effective OA therapies is the lack of diagnostic platforms capable of monitoring cartilage degeneration and its response to treatment. 

  • Raman spectroscopy is an inelastic light scattering technique that provides an optical fingerprint of a tissue’s molecules building blocks (e.g. amides, sulfates, carboxylic acids, hydroxyls), thus allowing for recognition of the predominant molecular constituents of the tissue (e.g. glycosaminoglycans, collagen, water). 

​

  • We are advancing Raman spectroscopy into an arthroscopic needle platform that assesses cartilage composition and functional properties. 

​

  • Raman arthroscopy can serve as a transformative medical platform for rapid and efficient monitoring of patient cartilage health.

  • Our novel Raman needle probe performs “optical biopsy” at anatomical sites of articular cartilage.

  • ​Multivariate regression models decompose spectra for quantification of ECM-specific biomarkers predictive of cartilage composition and functional mechanical properties.

  • Raman needle probe predicts composition and functional properties of degenerating cartilage.

​

  • Raman needle probe quantifies relative levels of hydrogel scaffold and ECM in developing engineered cartilage.

Related Publications

 

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles​

  1. Kroupa K, Wu M, Zhang J, Wong W, Jensen M, Engiles JB, Grinstaff MW, Snyder B, Bergholt MS, Albro MB. Raman needle arthroscopy for in vivo molecular assessment of cartilage. Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 2021; 1-11. doi.org/10/1002/jor.25155

  2. Jensen M, Horgan CC, Vercauteren T, Albro MB, Bergholt MS. (2020) Multiplexed polarized hypodermic raman needle probe for biostructural analysis of articular cartilage: 45(10): 2890-3.

  3. Bergholt MS, Serio A, Albro MB. (2019) Raman imaging: Guiding light for the extracellular matrix. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Nov 1; 7:303.. 

  4. Albro MB, Bergholt MS, St-Pierre JP, Vinals Guitart A, Zlotnick H, Stevens MM. (2018) Hyperspectral Raman imaging as a novel tool for quantifying the distribution of biochemical constituents in native and engineered cartilage. NPJ Regenerative Medicine, Feb 9; 3:3.

  5. Bergholt MS*, Albro MB*,Stevens MM. (2017) Online quantitative monitoring of live engineered cartilage growth using diffuse fiber-optic Raman spectroscopy. Biomaterials, Sept; 140:128-137. * Equal contribution.

  6. Bergholt MS, St-Pierre JP, Offeddu GS, Parmar PA, Albro MB, Puetzer JL, Oyen ML, Stevens MM. (2016) Raman spectroscopy reveals new insights into the zonal organization of native and tissue-engineered articular cartilage. ACS Central Science, 2 (12): 885-95.

​

​

Conference Abstracts

  1. Kazemi M, Mehrotra DR, Zhang J, Yu C, Desai D, Grinstaff MW, Snyder BD, Bergholt MS, Albro MB. (2022) Raman needle probe assessment of cartilage composition predicts functional tissue properties. Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, abstract no. 2164.

  2. Mehrotra DR, Zhang J, Wang T, Ersland E, Grinstaff MW, Snyder BD, Bergholt MS, Albro MB. (2022) Raman arthroscopic needle probe for assessment of neocartilage composition. Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, abstract no. 223.

  3. Zhang J, Wang T, Jensen M, Grinstaff MW, Snyder BD, Bergholt MS, Albro MB. (2021) Raman needle arthroscopy towards in vivo monitoring of engineered cartilage growth. Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference (SB3C), abstract no. 562.

  4. Jensen M, Horgan CC, Zhang J, Wu M, Vercauteren T, Snyder BD, Albro MB, Bergholt MS. (2021) Raman needle probe for compositional and structural analysis of articular cartilage during early osteoarthritis. SPIE BiOS Photonics West.

  5. Zhang J, Jensen M, Grinstaff MW, Schaer T, Snyder BD, Bergholt MS, Albro MB. (2021) Raman needle arthroscopy for in vivo diagnostics of musculoskeletal connective tissues. Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, abstract no. 1650-LB.

  6. Zhang J, Jensen M, Dogru S, Grande-Arriola H, Grinstaff MW, Snyder BD, Bergholt MS, Albro MB. (2021) Raman plate reader for quantitative molecular monitoring of live cartilage explants. Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, abstract no. 1604-LB.

  7. Kroupa K, Wu M, Wong W, Bergholt MS, Albro MB. (2020). Fiber-optic Raman spectroscopy for early-stage osteoarthritis diagnostics. Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society (Podium presentation; Phoenix, AZ; Feb 2020).

  8. Kroupa K, Wu M, Wong W, Bergholt MS, Albro MB. (2020). Fiber-optic Raman spectroscopy for early-stage osteoarthritis diagnostics. SPIE Photonics West (Podium presentation; San Francisco, CA; Feb 2020). 

  9. Kroupa K, Wu M, Wong W, Bergholt MS, Albro MB. (2020). Fiber-optic Raman spectroscopy for early-stage osteoarthritis diagnostics. SPIE Photonics West (Podium presentation; San Francisco CA; Feb 2020). 

  10. Albro MB, Bergholt MS, Stevens MM. (2017) Online quantitative monitoring of live engineered cartilage growth using diffuse fiber-optic Raman spectroscopy. 63rd Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society. 

  11. Albro MB, Bergholt MS, St-Pierre JP, Zlotnick H, Medina A, Stevens MM. (2016) Hyperspectral Raman imaging as a novel tool for quantifying the distribution of biochemical constituents in native and engineered cartilage. 62nd Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society.

​

bottom of page