Effects of cold storage on double integrating sphere optical property measurements of porcine dermis and subcutaneous fat from 400 to 1100 nm.

SIGNIFICANCE

Accurate values of skin optical properties are essential for developing reliable computational models and optimizing optical imaging systems. However, published values show a large variability due to a variety of factors, including differences in sample collection, preparation, experimental methodology, and analysis.

AIM

We aim to explore the influence of storage conditions on the optical properties of the excised skin from 400 to 1100 nm.

APPROACH

We utilize a double integrating sphere system and inverse adding-doubling approach to determine absorption, , and reduced scattering, , coefficients of the porcine dermis and subcutaneous fat before and after refrigeration, freezing, or flash freezing.

RESULTS

Our findings indicate a small average change of , , and in for the dermis and 0.001, , and for the subcutaneous tissue after refrigeration, freezing, and flash freezing, respectively, with the most notable differences observed in the hemoglobin absorption region. The value of shows a negligible average change of , , and for the dermis, and 0.06, , and change for the subcutaneous tissue for refrigerated, frozen, and flash-frozen samples, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The results provide additional context for the variability of published values of optical parameters and enable informed selection of sample storage conditions for future measurements. In addition, the results discussed here can be used to improve study planning, particularly with regard to maximizing the use of finite samples that have been collected.