About the Cover
Featured on the October 2022 cover of Applied Spectroscopy is the graphical abstract outlining the research by Arja M. Kullaa, with Sridhar Reddy Padala, Dimple Saikia, Jopi J.W. Mikkonen, Emilia Uurasjärvi, Hannah Dekker, Engelbert A.J.M. Schulten, Nathalie Bravenboer, Arto Koistinen, Amrita Chauhan, and Surya P. Singh from their paper, "Irradiation Induced Biochemical Changes in Human Mandibular Bone: A Raman Spectroscopic Study" (DOI: 10.1177/000370282211092), pages 1165–1173. For this work, Raman spectroscopy was used as a novel means of quantifying the biochemical changes resulting from radiotherapy in human mandibles in a total of 33 bone biopsies (16 control specimens, 17 irradiated patients with head and neck malignancies). Findings of this study indicate that radiation exposure leads to mineral and matrix biochemical changes in bone, with altered collagen and a reduction in mineralization. Furthermore, it was elucidated that mandibular bone is changed chemically and compositionally by radiation, which might increase the risk of fracture or failure of implants in patients. Additional spectroscopic studies to further correlate and identify compositional changes are suggested as a way to improve the clinical outcomes of patients treated with radiation for head and neck cancers.