title: Switchable skin window induced by optical clearing method for dermal blood flow imaging.
abstract: Optical imaging techniques have shown tremendous potential for assessing cutaneous microcirculation, but the imaging depth and contrast is limited by the strong scattering of skin. Current skin windows have to be fulfilled by surgical operation and suffer from some side effects. In this study, a switchable skin window was developed by topical application of an optical clearing agent (OCA) and saline on rat skin in vivo. The validity of the skin window was evaluated by the laser speckle contrast imaging technique, and the safety of OCA to the body was tested through histologic examinations. The results indicated that administration of OCA or saline on rat skin in vivo can open or close the window of skin repeatedly for three days. With the repair effect of hyaluronic acid and Vaseline, it is able to repeatedly visualize the dermal blood vessels and flow distribution. Long-term observation shows that there is no abnormal reflection in micro-structure, body weight, organ coefficients, histopathologic lesions, or toxic reactions compared with a control group. This switchable window will provide an effective tool not only for cutaneous microcirculation with laser speckle contrast imaging, but also for diagnosis and treatment of peripheral vascular diseases, including tumor research with various optical imaging techniques.
authors.affiliation: Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000287:Administration, Topical; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007668:Kidney / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D055806:Microvessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D010577:Petrolatum / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D012884:Skin Window Technique / Q000379:methods*; D013829:Thiadiazines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D013829:Thiadiazines; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D010577:Petrolatum; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid; C012864:dazomet