Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
obtained at the dermo-epidermal junction of five different Asian volunteers' forearm skin (Figures
14.20a-1 through 14.20a-5), the inactive melanocytes (arrows) can easily be identified according to their
oval shape and large nuclei, of which the mean diameter is about 7 μm. On the other hand, in the dermis
of the Asian volunteers' skin, cells with strong THG contrasts and varied shapes are found within the
collagen fibers (arrows in Figures 14.20b-1 through 14.20b-5). According to their locations and varied
shapes, these cells can be recognized as fibroblasts, melanophages, or lymphocytes depending on the
skin conditions (inflammation or pigmentation, etc.), but it still has difficulty to clearly distinguish these
intradermal cells only by SHG/THG microscopy. As observed in the
ex vivo
results, in the
in vivo
SHG/
THG imaging of the human skin, dermal capillaries can be regularly observed in both papillary and
reticular dermis with SHG-sensitive collagen fibers surrounded (Figures 14.20c-1 through 14.20c-5).
However, different from the
ex vivo
imaging, the RBC (arrows) in the capillaries can be revealed by THG
FIgurE 14.20
In vivo
SHG/THG images of the dermis obtained in different volunteers' skin. In the dermis, THG
microscopy can reveal the (a-1)-(a-5) inactive melanocytes (arrows) with oval shape and large nuclei; (b-1)-(b-5)
THG-bright cells with varied shapes (arrows), probably the fibroblasts; (c-1)-(c-5) moving red blood cells (arrows)
and the THG-bright spots (arrowheads in (c-4)), which are possibly the accumulating lipids in capillary walls; and
(d-1)-(d-5) elastic fibers (arrows in separated THG images (e-1)-(e-5)). Scale bar: 50 μm.
