title: Ex vivo and in vivo second-harmonic-generation imaging of dermal collagen fiber in skin: comparison of imaging characteristics between mode-locked Cr:forsterite and Ti:sapphire lasers.
abstract: Second-harmonic-generation (SHG) microscopy is an interesting new tool for observing dermal collagen fiber in skin. However, conventional SHG microscopy using a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser suffers from low penetration depth and a slow image acquisition rate caused by scattering and absorption in tissue, making it difficult to use for in vivo applications on human skin. We develop an SHG microscope equipped with a mode-locked Cr:forsterite laser with a long wavelength and compare its imaging characteristics with that of a Ti:sapphire-laser-based SHG microscope for the measurement of dermal collagen fiber in animal and human skins. The results indicate the suitability of the Cr:forsterite laser-based SHG microscope for in vivo imaging of human skin.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan. t-yasui@me.es.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yasui
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Shuichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Araki