Laser-induced autofluorescence-based objective evaluation of burn tissue repair in mice.

Abstract

Management of burn injuries are a growing concern, especially in determining the progression of healing. Several techniques are being practiced in clinics and have been considered all-time standard approaches to determine pre- and post-treatment outcomes of a healthy healing. However, these kinds of methods involve repeated biopsies and thereby hindering tissue repair. In view of this, our perspective was to develop a non-invasive tool in an attempt to provide a solution to determine the progression of healing, in vivo. Hence, the present study was designed to investigate the ability of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) to monitor the variations in collagen intensity at various time points (0, 2, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30days) during burn tissue repair in mice, post low-power laser therapy (LPLT). The spectral findings demonstrated a significant change in collagen intensity as observed on day 24 (p<0.05) and 30 (p<0.01), when treated with LPLT (830nm 3J/cm2) as compared to untreated control. From the observation, it was evident that the LIF could objectively monitor the progression of burn tissue repair in vivo.