Scientists and surgeons used Raman spectroscopy to identify damage in pigs livers

At present, surgeons have no quantitative or detailed method of assessing if a liver is healthy enough to transplant into a new person. The surgeon must conduct blood tests and inspect the organ by feel and eye to evaluate if the donor’s liver is a good match and healthy.

However, surgeons and scientists from Edinburgh University, the Edinburgh Transplant Centre and Strathclyde University used Raman spectroscopy to identify damage in the pigs’ livers to improve the process.

The team was able to detect whether red blood cells had infiltrated the main body of the liver from its blood.

The team was able to detect whether red blood cells had penetrated the main body of the liver from its blood vessels by shining a laser onto tissue from pig liver biopsies and observing the light reflected.

The fast findings from the handheld RS spectrometer, according to Edinburgh University, matched those from more time-consuming methods of determining a liver’s health, such as blood biochemistry and gas analysis.

The instrument was also used to evaluate the efficacy of a new surgical procedure called normothermic regional perfusion, which the Edinburgh Transplant Centre’s surgical team developed and uses a machine to re-establish blood circulation to donated organs after death.

Researchers used RS to verify that NRP reduced congestion in the transplanted liver, giving them more information to understand the promising results shown in clinical trials of the drug.

Analysis led during her PhD at the Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde, Dr Katherine Ember from the Laboratory of Radiological Optics, Montreal, stated: “We found that we could detect liver damage in a way that simply relies on shining a laser at liver tissue and collecting the light scattered back. We didn’t expect to find such a clear difference in Raman signal between damaged and undamaged liver tissue. It’s very exciting and will be fascinating to see whether this technology can be brought successfully into a clinical setting. This could enable liver damage to be detected early in the transplant procedure, allowing more livers to be transplanted safely and effectively.”