Multifocal hyperspectral Raman imaging setup for multi-well plates

Abstract

High-throughput screening has become widespread in drug discovery. This increases the need for efficient, parallelized spectral imaging techniques. However, current designs focus on microplate readers without the capability of measuring hyperspectral images or microscopy setups. In this work, a novel setup for parallelized hyperspectral Raman spectroscopy is presented. Utilizing a unique combination of a diffractive element and a micro-lens array in a tailored optical setup, it was possible to acquire 64 high-resolution Raman spectra from a multi-well plate simultaneously. This allows an enormous reduction in measurement time in comparison to sequential readers. Thus, the presented parallelized hyperspectral Raman spectroscopic setup provides a time saving way for modern high-throughput screening applications and the advantage of chemically selective real-time comparison between the different micro-well spots.