Photochemistry and photobiology
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Photochem. Photobiol. · Jun 1995
Comparative StudySpectroscopic and microscopic characteristics of human skin autofluorescence emission.
To improve the understanding of human skin autofluorescence emission, the spectroscopic and microscopic characteristics of skin autofluorescence were studied using a combined fluorescence and reflectance spectroanalyzer and a fiber optic microspectrophotometer. The autofluorescence spectra of in vivo human skin were measured over a wide excitation wavelength range (350-470 nm). The excitation-emission matrices of in vivo skin were obtained. ⋯ The microscopic in vitro autofluorescence properties of excised skin tissue sections were examined using 442 nm He-Cd laser light excitation as an example. It was demonstrated that the fluorophore distribution inside the skin tissue is not uniform and the shapes of the autofluorescence spectra of different anatomical skin layers vary. The result of this study confirms that the major skin fluorophores are located in the dermis and provides an excellent foundation for Monte Carlo modeling of in vivo autofluorescence measurements.