Assessing blood brain barrier dynamics or identifying or measuring selected substances, including ethanol or toxins, in a subject by analyzing Raman spectrum signals

A method of non-invasively detecting the presence or absence of an analyte in the cerebral spinal fluid or brain and/or monitoring the blood brain baffler of a subject, comprising the steps of:

• generating an excitation beam at a wavelength of between about 400 to 900 nanometers;
• focusing the excitation beam of said generating step into the eye of the subject so that a selected region is illuminated;
• obtaining a Raman spectrum corresponding to the illuminated region;
• and
• detecting the presence or absence of an analyte in the brain or cerebral spinal fluid and/or monitoring the blood brain baffler dynamics based on said detecting step, wherein said detecting step comprises assessing whether the dynamics of the blood brain baffler allow at least one selected analyte, which would normally be inhibited from traveling through the blood brain barrier, to pass into the intracranial spinal fluid through the blood brain barrier.

A method of non-invasively detecting the presence or absence of an analyte in the cerebral spinal fluid or brain and/or monitoring the blood brain barrier of a subject, comprising the steps of:

• generating an excitation beam at a wavelength of between about 400 to 900 nanometers;
• focusing the excitation beam of said generating step into the eye of the subject so that a selected region is illuminated;
• obtaining a Raman spectrum corresponding to the illuminated region;
• and
• detecting the presence or absence of an analyte in the brain or cerebral spinal fluid and monitoring the blood brain baffler dynamics based on said detecting step, wherein said detecting step is carried out when the subject is exposed to elevated ambient pressures.

A method of non-invasively detecting the presence or absence of an analyte in the cerebral spinal fluid or brain and/or monitoring the blood brain barrier of a subject, comprising the steps of:

• generating an excitation beam at a wavelength of between about 400 to 900 nanometers;
• focusing the excitation beam of said generating step into the eye of the subject so that a selected region is illuminated;
• obtaining a Raman spectrum corresponding to the illuminated region;
• and
• detecting the presence or absence of an analyte in the brain or cerebral spinal fluid and monitoring the blood brain baffler dynamics based on said detecting step, wherein said method is carried out when the brain of the subject has been exposed to a trauma injury to determine whether there is an alteration of the dynamics of the blood brain baffler.

A computer program product for monitoring the blood brain barrier and/or determining the presence and/or quantity of a selected substance in the brain of a subject, comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising:
• computer readable program code configured to analyze a Raman spectral response of a selected region of the eye of a subject to monitor the blood brain barrier and/or determine the presence and/or quantity of a selected substance in the intracranial and/or cerebral spinal fluid of a subject;
• and
• computer program code configured to assess whether the dynamics of the blood brain barrier allow at least one selected analyte, which would normally be inhibited from traveling through the blood brain barrier, to pass into the intracranial spinal fluid through the blood brain barrier.