Prognostic potential and pathological validation of a diagnostic application using Raman spectroscopy in the characterization of degenerative changes in the cartilage of the humeral head.

Significance: Raman spectroscopy is a well-established analytical method in the fields of chemistry, industry, biology, pharmaceutics, and medicine. Previous studies have investigated optical imaging and Raman spectroscopy for osteoarthritis (OA) diagnosis in weight-bearing joints such as hip and knee joints. However, to realize early diagnosis or a curable treatment, it is still challenging to understand the correlations with intrinsic factors or patients’ background.