Abstract
A three-layered skin model (stratum corneum, epidermis, and dermis) and engineering formulas for radiative transfer theory are used to study absorption spectra and light penetration depths of normal and pathologically altered skin. The formulas include small-angle and asymptotic approximations and a layer-addition method. These characteristics are calculated for wavelengths used for low-intensity laser therapy. We examined several pathologies such as vitiligo, edema, erythematosus lupus, and subcutaneous wound, for which the bulk concentrations of melanin and blood vessels or tissue structure (for subcutaneous wound) change compared with normal skin. The penetration depth spectrum is very similar to the inverted blood absorption spectrum. In other words, the depth is minimal at blood absorption maxima. The calculated absorption spectra enable the power and irradiation wavelength providing the required light effect to be selected. Relationships between the penetration depth and the diffuse reflectance coefficient of skin (unambiguously expressed through the absorption coefficient) are analyzed at different wavelengths. This makes it possible to find relationships between the light fields inside and outside the tissue.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
W.-F. Cheong, S. A. Prahl, and A. J. Welch, IEEE J. Quantum Electron., 26, 2166–2185 (1990).
S. L. Jacques, http://omlc.ogi.edu/news/jan98/skinoptics.html
V. V. Tuchin, Lasers and Fiber Optics in Biomedical Research [in Russian], Izd. Saratov. Gos. Univ., Saratov (1998).
A. J. Welch, E. H. Wissler, and L. A. Priebe, IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., 27, 164–166 (1980).
Yu. N. Shcherbakov, A. N. Yakunin, I. V. Yaroslavskii, and V. V. Tuchin, Opt. Spektrosk., 76, 845–850 (1994).
E. P. Zege, A. P. Ivanov, and I. L. Katsev, Image Transfer in Scattering Medium [in Russian], Nauka i Tekhnika, Minsk (1985).
I. V. Meglinskii and S. D. Matcher, Opt. Spektrosk., 91, 692–697 (2001).
M. J. C. Van Gemert, S. L. Jacques, H. J. C. M. Sterenborg, and W. M. Star, IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., 46, 1146–1154 (1989).
I. V. Meglinskii, Kvantovaya Élektron. (Moscow), 31, 1101–1107 (2001).
M. Motamedi, S. Rastegar, G. L. Le Carpentier, and A. J. Welch, Appl. Opt., 28, 2230–2237 (1989).
A. J. Welch, IEEE J. Quantum Electron., QE-20, 1471–1481 (1984).
Yu. V. Vladimirov and A. Ya. Potapenko, Physical Chemical Principles of Photobiological Processes [in Russian], Vysshaya Shkola, Moscow (1989).
V. V. Barun and A. P. Ivanov, Opt. Spektrosk., 96, 1019–1024 (2004).
S. A. Prahl, http://omlc.ogi.edu/spectra/hemoglobin/index.html
A. Ya. Khairullina, in: Light Propagation in Disperse Medium [in Russian], A. P. Ivanov, ed., Nauka i Tekhnika, Minsk (1982), pp. 275–292.
V. V. Barun and A. P. Ivaonov, Biofizika, 49, 1125–1133 (2004).
G. V. Rozenberg, Spectroscopy of Scattering Media [in Russian], B. I. Stepanov, ed., Izd. Inst. Fiz. Akad. Navuk BSSR, Minsk (1963), pp. 5–36.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
__________
Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii Vol. 74, No. 3, pp. 387–394, May–June, 2007.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barun, V.V., Ivanov, A.P., Volotovskaya, A.V. et al. Absorption spectra and light penetration depth of normal and pathologically altered human skin. J Appl Spectrosc 74, 430–439 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10812-007-0071-2
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10812-007-0071-2