Larsson Marcus, Favilla Riccardo, Strömberg Tomas
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Linköping University, Sweden.
Institute of Clinical Physiology, Council of National Research, Pisa, Italy.
Comput Biol Med. 2017 Jun 1;85:106-111. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2016.04.005. Epub 2016 Apr 12.
Several studies have shown that advanced glycation end products (AGE) play a role in both the microvascular and macrovascular complications of diabetes and are closely linked to inflammation and atherosclerosis. AGEs accumulate in skin and can be detected using their auto fluorescence (AF). A significant correlation exists between AGE AF and the levels of AGEs as obtained from skin biopsies. A commercial device, the AGE Reader, has become available to assess skin AF for clinical purposes but, while displaying promising results, it is limited to single-point measurements performed in contact to skin tissue. Furthermore, in vivo imaging of AGE accumulation is virtually unexplored. We proposed a non-invasive, contact-less novel technique for quantifying fluorescent AGE deposits in skin tissue using a multispectral imaging camera setup (MSI) during ultraviolet (UV) exposure. Imaging involved applying a region-of-interest mask, avoiding specular reflections and a simple calibration. Results of a study conducted on 16 subjects with skin types ranging from fair to deeply pigmented skin, showed that AGE measured with MSI in forearm skin was significantly correlated with the AGE reference method (AGE Reader on forearm skin, R=0.68, p=0.005). AGE measured in facial skin was borderline significantly related to AGE Reader on forearm skin (R=0.47, p=0.078). These results support the use of the technique in devices for non-touch measurement of AGE content in either facial or forearm skin tissue over time.
多项研究表明，晚期糖基化终末产物（AGE）在糖尿病的微血管和大血管并发症中均起作用，且与炎症和动脉粥样硬化密切相关。AGE在皮肤中蓄积，可通过其自身荧光（AF）进行检测。皮肤活检获得的AGE水平与AGE AF之间存在显著相关性。一种名为AGE Reader的商用设备已可用于临床评估皮肤AF，但尽管显示出有前景的结果，它仅限于对皮肤组织进行单点接触测量。此外，AGE蓄积的体内成像实际上尚未得到探索。我们提出了一种非侵入性、非接触的新技术，用于在紫外线（UV）照射期间使用多光谱成像相机设置（MSI）对皮肤组织中的荧光AGE沉积物进行定量。成像包括应用感兴趣区域掩码、避免镜面反射和简单校准。对16名皮肤类型从白皙到深色的受试者进行的一项研究结果表明，MSI在前臂皮肤中测量的AGE与AGE参考方法（前臂皮肤的AGE Reader，R = 0.68，p = 0.005）显著相关。面部皮肤中测量的AGE与前臂皮肤的AGE Reader存在临界显著相关性（R = 0.47，p = 0.078）。这些结果支持该技术在用于随时间对面部或前臂皮肤组织中AGE含量进行非接触测量的设备中的应用。
