Evaluation of minimum-to-severe global and macrovesicular steatosis in
human liver specimens: a portable ambient light-compatible spectroscopic
probe
Abstract
This study presents a portable spectroscopic system compatible with
ambient light to assess hepatic steatosis (HS) and macrovesicular
steatosis (MaS) in human liver specimens. Traditional assessment methods
for MaS are limited, prompting the need for non-invasive alternatives.
The study utilized a two-stage approach on thawed snap-frozen liver
specimens. Biochemical validation compared fat content from Raman and
reflectance intensities with triglyceride (TG) quantifications, while
histopathological validation contrasted Raman-derived fat content with
pathologist evaluations and an algorithm. Analysis of 16 specimens
showed a positive correlation between spectroscopic data and TG
quantifications. The Raman system differentiated various degrees of
global HS and MaS in an additional 66 specimens. A dual-variable
prediction algorithm classified significant discrepancies (≥10%)
between algorithm-estimated global HS and pathologist-estimated MaS.
This study demonstrates the viability of a portable spectroscopic system
for non-invasive HS and MaS assessment to enhance real-time donor liver
assessments during recovery to improve transplantation outcomes.