Superior analyzer for raman spectra with high acceptance cone, resolution, transmission, quantum efficiency, and strong background reduction

1. A method of diagnosing a health problem in a patient comprising:

administering a 13 C-isotope-labeled compound which decomposes at a specific site in the body to a patient;

using a Raman analyzer to determine an isotope ratio of 12 CO 2 / 13 CO 2 in breath exhaled from the patient comprising the steps of:

splitting light emitted from the Raman cell into a first beam and a second beam;

filtering the first beam to remove a Raman scattered line;

interrupting periodically the first and second beam;

converting light from the first beam into a first electrical signal;

converting light from the first beam into a second electrical signal;

comparing the first electrical signal to the second electrical signal to normalize the first electrical signal, and recovering normalized signal intensity by electronic digital Fourier analysis; and

monitoring the isotope ratio of 12 CO 2 / 13 CO 2 as a function of time.

2. A method of diagnosing a health problem in a patient comprising:

administering a 13 C-isotope-labeled compound which decomposes at a specific site in the body to a patient;

using a Raman analyzer for analyzing light emitted from a Raman cell to determine an isotope ratio of 12 CO 2 / 13 CO 2 in breath exhaled from the patient, wherein the Raman analyzer comprises

a beam splitter configured to split the light emitted from the Raman cell into a first beam and a second beam;

an atomic vapor filter configured to remove a Raman scattered line from the first beam;

a chopper system configured to periodically interrupt the first and second beam; and

a photo detector configured to convert light from the first and second beams into an electrical signal; and

monitoring the isotope ratio of 12 CO 2 / 13 CO 2 as a function of time.

3. The analyzer of claim 2 , wherein the beam splitter is a 90/10 beam splitter such that the first beam comprises 90% of the light input into the beam splitter, and the second beam comprises 10% of the light input into the beam splitter.

4. The analyzer of claim 2 , wherein the atomic vapor filter comprises a cesium vapor filter.

5. The analyzer of claim 2 , wherein the chopper system periodically interrupts the first and second beam with incommensurable frequency.

6. The analyzer of claim 2 , wherein the photo detector is an avalanche photo diode.

7. The analyzer of claim 2 , further comprising a pinhole filter to filter the light emitted from the Raman cell and to output a beam of light having a smooth transverse intensity profile.

8. The analyzer of claim 7 , further comprising a narrow band-pass filter configured such that its center wavelength coincides with the wavelength of the D1 line of atomic vapor, wherein the beam of light output from the pinhole filter is passed through the narrow-band pass filter, and wherein the light output from the narrow band-pass filter is output to the beam splitter.

9. The analyzer of claim 8 , further comprising a lens configured to focus the first and second beams of light onto the photo detector.

10. The analyzer of claim 9 , wherein light input into the photo detector is output as an electrical signal that is amplified by at least one amplifier.

11. The analyzer of claim 10 , wherein the amplified signal is digitized and Fourier filtered to remove most of the background signal to produce a final signal.

12. The analyzer of claim 11 , wherein the final signal intensities are recovered by electronic digital lock—in analysis.