Compositional study of gallbladder stone using photoacoustic spectroscopy

Abstract Molecular composition of gallbladder stone has been investigated for the first time by means of photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS). The presence of cholesterol, calcium carbonate and bile acid, in the photoacoustic spectrum, have been established and compared with the UV–Visible absorption spectrum of acetone solution of powdered gallstone. The results of this investigation show that PAS is better suited to detect the presence of different chemical compounds in gallstones as compared to conventional absorption spectroscopy. Moreover, PAS does not require elaborate biomaterial’s sample preparation. Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been applied to reveal presence of atomic species in gallstone, that are involved in the molecular constituents revealed by PAS.