Raman Spectroscopy Techniques for the Investigation and Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder, resulting in memory loss, cognitive decline, bodily function impairment, and finally death. The growing number of people suffering from AD increasingly urges the development of effective early diagnosis and monitoring techniques. Here, we review the most recent developments in the field of Raman-based techniques, which have shown a significant potential in identifying AD by detecting specific biomarkers in biological fluids, as well as in providing fundamental insights into key molecules involved in the disease progression or in the analysis of histological specimens of patients with AD. These techniques comprise spontaneous and resonant Raman spectroscopies, exploit plasmon- or fiber- enhanced effects, such as surface-, tip- or fiber- enhanced Raman spectroscopies, or involve non-linear techniques like coherent Raman scattering. The scientific efforts employed up to now as well as the rapid technological advancements in optical detection instruments (spectrometers, lasers, substrates for analysis, etc.) and the diffusion of advanced data processing methods suggest a leading role of Raman techniques in the perspective of a preclinical or clinical detection of AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Raman spectroscopy; biological fluids; biomarkers; early diagnosis; label-free methods; optical detection.