Background Estimation of Biomedical Raman Spectra Using a Geometric Approach

Raman spectroscopy grows into an essential tool for biomedical applications. Nevertheless, the weak Raman signal associated mainly with biological samples is often obscured by a broad background signal due to the intrinsic fluorescence of the organic molecules present, making further analysis unfeasible. A computational geometry method based on the definition of convex hull is described to estimate the background from Raman spectra of samples with biological interest. The method is semiautomated requiring sample-dependent user intervention. It does not depend, however, on curve fitting, requires no information about background distribution or source, and keeps the original spectral data intact.