Abstract
Skin tissue consists of collagen and elastic fibres, which are highly susceptible to damage when exposed to ultraviolet radiation (UVR), leading to skin aging and cancer. However, a lack of non-invasive detection methods makes determining the degree of UVR damage to skin in real time difficult. As one of the fundamental features of light, polarization can be used to develop imaging techniques capable of providing structural information about tissues. In particular, Mueller matrix polarimetry is suitable for detecting changes in collagen and elastic fibres. Here, we demonstrate a novel, quantitative, non-contact and in situ technique based on Mueller matrix polarimetry for monitoring the microstructural changes of skin tissues during UVR-induced photo-damaging. We measured the Mueller matrices of nude mouse skin samples, then analysed the transformed parameters to characterise microstructural changes during the skin photo-damaging and self-repairing processes. Comparisons between samples with and without the application of a sunscreen showed that the Mueller matrix-derived parameters are potential indicators for fibrous microstructure in skin tissues. Histological examination and Monte Carlo simulations confirmed the relationship between the Mueller matrix parameters and changes to fibrous structures. This technique paves the way for non-contact evaluation of skin structure in cosmetics and dermatological health.
Highlights
Skin tissue is comprised of elastic fibres, collagen fibres and matrix composed of protein polysaccharide
Recent studies demonstrated that polarization-resolved second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy can be used to determine changes of collagen fibres in different tissues[16,17]
The experimental results were compared with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations based on the sphere-cylinder birefringence model (SCBM), which incorporates a birefringent interstitial medium together with spherical and cylindrical scatterers to mimic the organelles and fibres in skin tissues[31,32,33]
Summary
Skin tissue is comprised of elastic fibres, collagen fibres and matrix composed of protein polysaccharide. Because effective ways for non-invasively obtaining structural information about skin tissues are lacking, it is difficult to determine the degree of UVR damage and the effect of sunscreens in real time[4]. A non-contact and low-cost technique for quantitatively monitoring the structural variation in skin tissues would be helpful in the fields of both cosmetics and dermatological health. Polarization imaging, especially Mueller matrix polarimetry, has many unique advantages as a non-contact and in situ technique for detecting tissue microstructures[10,11,12,13]. The consistency of the experimental and simulated data demonstrates that the Mueller matrix-derived parameters non-invasively provide indicators for quantitatively monitoring the microstructural features of skin tissues, and may have good prospects for application in the fields of cosmetics and dermatological health
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