Department of Electrical Engineering, Chang Gung University, 259, Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan 33302, Taiwan.
Sensors (Basel). 2013 Mar 25;13(4):4041-50. doi: 10.3390/s130404041.
In this study, time-resolved optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanning images of the process of water diffusion in the skin that illustrate the enhancement in the backscattered intensities due to the increased water concentration are presented. In our experiments, the water concentration in the skin was increased by soaking the hand in water, and the same region of the skin was scanned and measured with the OCT system and a commercial moisture monitor every three minutes. To quantitatively analyze the moisture-related optical properties and the velocity of water diffusion in human skin, the attenuation coefficients of the skin, including the epidermis and dermis layers, were evaluated. Furthermore, the evaluated attenuation coefficients were compared with the measurements made using the commercial moisture monitor. The results demonstrate that the attenuation coefficient increases as the water concentration increases. Furthermore, by evaluating the positions of center-of mass of the backscattered intensities from OCT images, the diffusion velocity can be estimated. In contrast to the commercial moisture monitor, OCT can provide three-dimensional structural images of the skin and characterize its optical property, which together can be used to observe morphological changes and quantitatively evaluate the moisture-related attenuation coefficients in different skin layers.
在这项研究中，展示了水在皮肤中扩散过程的时分辨光相干断层扫描（OCT）扫描图像，这些图像说明了由于水浓度增加而导致反向散射强度增强。在我们的实验中，通过将手浸泡在水中来增加皮肤中的水分浓度，并使用 OCT 系统和商业湿度监测器每三分钟扫描和测量同一皮肤区域。为了定量分析与水分相关的光学特性和水在人体皮肤中的扩散速度，评估了皮肤的衰减系数，包括表皮和真皮层。此外，将评估的衰减系数与使用商业湿度监测器进行的测量进行了比较。结果表明，衰减系数随着水浓度的增加而增加。此外，通过评估 OCT 图像中反向散射强度的质心位置，可以估计扩散速度。与商业湿度监测器相比，OCT 可以提供皮肤的三维结构图像并表征其光学特性，这两者可用于观察形态变化并定量评估不同皮肤层中与水分相关的衰减系数。
