Mechanical Tissue Optical Clearing Devices: Evaluation of Enhanced Light Penetration in Skin using OCT

摘要

We report results of a study to evaluate effectiveness of a mechanical tissue optical clearing device (TOCD) using optical coherence tomography (OCT). The TOCD consists of a pin array and vacuum pressure source applied directly to the skin surface. OCT images (850 and 1310 nm) of in vivo human skin indicate an increased light penetration depth (enhanced approximately 2 fold over peripheral tissue) which spatially correlates with TOCD pin indentations. Increased contrast of the epidermal-dermal junction in OCT images spatially correlates with indented zones. OCT M-scans (time sequence of depth scans) indicate optical penetration depth monotonically increased throughout the entire image acquisition period with most improvement at early times of TOCD application with vacuum. Results of our study suggest that mechanical optical clearing of skin may provide a means to deliver increased light fluence to dermal and subdermal regions.