Evaluation of the Bone-ligament and tendon insertions based on Raman spectrum and its PCA and CLS analysis

Injuries to the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and Rotator Cuff Tendon (RCT) are common in physically active and elderly individuals. The development of an artificial prosthesis for reconstruction/repair of ACL and RCT injuries is of increasing interest due to the need for viable tissue and reduced surgically-related co-morbidity. An optimal prosthesis design is still elusive, therefore an improved understanding of the bone-soft tissue interface is extremely urgent. In this work, Raman spectral mapping was used to analyze, at the micron level, the chemical composition and corresponding structure of the bone-soft tissue interface. Raman spectroscopic mapping was performed using a Raman spectrometer with a 785 nm laser coupled to a microscope. Line-mapping procedure was performed on the ACL and RCT bone insertion sites. The classical least squares (CLS) fitting model was created from reference spectra derived from pure bone and soft-tissue components, and spectral maps collected at multiple sites from ACL and RCT specimens. The results suggest that different source of interface shows different boundary, even they seems have the same components. Compared to the common histology results, it provided intact molecular information that can easily distinguished some relative component change.