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.
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.
Yasui
Takeshi
T
Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan. t-yasui@me.es.osaka-u.ac.jp
Takahashi
Yu
Y
Ito
Masahiro
M
Fukushima
Shuichiro
S
Araki
Tsutomu
T