Point-of-care Raman microspectroscopy for detecting tumour markers in body liquids

Raman spectroscopy (RS) and especially surface-enhance Raman spectroscopy (SERS) applications are useful for detection of disease-related markers and cancer diagnosis. Development of spectral acquisition protocols for spectroscopic measurements of body fluids such as saliva, serum and cerumen are pivotal to identifying and detecting cancer markers. Traditional or gold-standard diagnostic methods for cancer involving for example clinical examination have often a limited diagnostic accuracy, together with long and invasive procedures. Therefore, novel, non-invasive, rapid tools for cancer diagnostics in a point-of-care (POC) setting are warranted. The aim of this thesis is the analysis of body liquids by means of molecular spectroscopic approaches like SERS, which offers great potential as non- or less invasive approach for a rapid screening of cancer markers in an early stage. Moreover, combining the SERS approach with machine learning (ML) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, this thesis aims to provide an operating routine for liquid biopsy POC testing to detect tumour markers leading to an improved personalized treatment of patients.