Clinical and Biomedical Applications:

IR spectroscopy has been employed for the analysis of various analytes in different biofluids and solid biological samples. This has applications within the analysis of pathological samples, for diagnostic purposes and also for non-invasive in vivo monitoring. For instance, mid-IR spectroscopy has been used for analysing the faecal fat content or for the purpose of the composition of urinary and gall stones. IR spectroscopic techniques have also been used for the concurrent quantification of serum concentrations of total protein, triglycerides, albumin, glucose urea, cholesterol,  creatinine and uric acid etc. A serum samples are spread as a thin film onto an IR- transparent material and measured within the mid IR region after drying of the serum film. Combinations of visible microscopy and IR spectroscopy (FT-IR-MC) have been used in the development of techniques for the diagnosis and identification of cancer cells.