Abstract
The early detection of cutaneous pigmented lesions is an important aid to the clinician in recognizing malignant melanoma. In an attempt to correlate the depth of a pigmented skin lesion with its malignant potential, phantoms able to simulate the diffuse reflectance of some lesions of different thicknesses were manufactured and tested to validate a diagnostic instrument developed in-house. Such optical skin-tissue phantoms may be useful for accelerating and optimizing the diagnosis of suspicious lesions of the skin. In fact, benign melanocytic lesions are different in terms of their diffuse reflectance from melanoma. The diffuse reflectance of pigmented skin lesions depends on the amount and distribution of the absorbing/diffusing chromophores embedded in the skin layers. The basic phantom material is a PVA hydrogel in which appropriate amounts of optical scatter are added extraneously at the time of formation to achieve tunability of the optical properties. Liquid Indian ink is used to simulate melanin and all the other chromophores. Slabs were prepared to mimic lesions of different depths. The optical properties of the tissue phantoms were determined in the visible and near-infrared spectral ranges using a noninvasive instrument made from a purpose-modified digital camera. The measured reflectance was correlated with the depth of the lesion both in a Monte Carlo simulation environment and in a laboratory experiment.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.