Wang Jiarui, Sun Qiushuo, Stantchev Rayko I, Chiu Tor-Wo, Ahuja Anil T, Pickwell-MacPherson Emma
Department of Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China.
Division of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China.
Biomed Opt Express. 2019 Jun 25;10(7):3584-3590. doi: 10.1364/BOE.10.003584. eCollection 2019 Jul 1.
Silicone gel sheeting (SGS) is widely used for scar treatment; however, studies showing its interaction with skin and efficacy of scar treatment are still lacking. THz light is non-ionizing and highly sensitive to changes in water content and thus skin hydration. In this work, we use THz imaging to monitor how SGS affects the THz response of human skin during occlusion, and the associated THz reflectivity and refractive index changes are presented. We find that SGS effectively hydrates the skin beneath it, with minimal lateral effects beyond the sheeting. Our work demonstrates that THz imaging is able to detect the subtle hydration changes on the surface of human skin caused by SGS, and it has the potential to be used to evaluate different scar treatment strategies.
硅胶片(SGS)被广泛用于瘢痕治疗;然而,关于其与皮肤相互作用及瘢痕治疗效果的研究仍较为缺乏。太赫兹光是非电离的,对水分含量变化以及皮肤水合作用高度敏感。在本研究中,我们使用太赫兹成像来监测在封闭过程中SGS如何影响人体皮肤的太赫兹响应,并呈现相关的太赫兹反射率和折射率变化。我们发现SGS能有效使下方皮肤水合,且在硅胶片之外的横向影响极小。我们的研究表明,太赫兹成像能够检测到由SGS引起的人体皮肤表面细微的水合变化,并且有潜力用于评估不同的瘢痕治疗策略。