Abstract
Contact pressure induced by manually operated fiber optic probes can significantly affect the optical properties of the studied tissue. If the contact pressure and the changes in optical properties are measured properly, then the complementary information can be used to obtain additional insight into the tissue physiology. However, as reliable assessment of the contact pressure in the existing diffuse reflectance setups is difficult, the impact of contact pressure is usually neglected or considered as a source of errors. We introduce a measurement system for controlled application of contact pressure and for the acquisition of diffuse reflectance spectra, which is suitable for in vivo studies and for overcoming the limitations of the existing measurement setups. A spectral-contact-pressure plane is proposed to present the combined information, highlighting the unique tissue response to the applied pressure.
Highlights
Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) in the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) spectral ranges is a noninvasive spectroscopic technique frequently used for the assessment of soft tissue properties
The applied contact pressure leads to structural changes in the skin and the underlying soft tissue, which affect the optical properties of the observed tissue and thereby the acquired spectra
An ex vivo study has shown that the contact pressure–induced decrease in tissue scattering can be used as an optical clearing technique.[9]
Summary
Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) in the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) spectral ranges is a noninvasive spectroscopic technique frequently used for the assessment of soft tissue properties. The applied contact pressure leads to structural changes in the skin and the underlying soft tissue, which affect the optical properties of the observed tissue and thereby the acquired spectra. An ex vivo study has shown that the contact pressure–induced decrease in tissue scattering can be used as an optical clearing technique.[9] deeper penetration depth can be Existing studies on the contact pressure–induced spectral changes in DRS used different methods for applying and controlling the level of contact pressure.[11] many of these systems are useful only for ex vivo applications.[2,4,9] Several measurement systems are limited to a few discrete quasistatic pressure levels[3,5,6] or applicable only to a specific measurement site.[10,12] the contact pressure is not always measured at the position of the diffuse reflectance probe,[7] depends on the probe operator,[8] or is not acquired simultaneously with the spectral information.[1]
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