title: Fluorescence excitation photography of epidermal cellular proliferation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fluorescence excitation provides the ability to interrogate innate molecules whose radiation emission correlates with specific functional states of tissue.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study demonstrates the effectiveness of a novel ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence excitation photography system in its ability to image rapidly proliferating epidermal skin lesions by capturing endogenous fluorescence emissions attributed to tryptophan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A clinical prototype UV fluorescence excitation photography system was used to acquire images of endogenous fluorescence ascribed to tryptophan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve human subjects and 11 ex vivo samples with various skin lesions consistently exhibited increased endogenous fluorescence at 340-nm wavelength upon excitation at 295 nm in rapid epidermal proliferations, including psoriasis, actinic keratoses and basal cell carcinoma, compared with surrounding normal skin. In contrast, nonproliferating lesions showed decreased fluorescence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This simple but robust point-and-shoot imaging system may offer a clinically useful, noncontact, noninvasive device for the diagnosis and detection of skin disease. As opposed to structural imaging modalities, fluorescence excitation imaging at 295/340-nm wavelengths offers high-sensitivity, wide-field functional imaging of cellular proliferation without the need for externally applied dyes or lengthy image processing. Furthermore, the image is instantly available and does not require interpretation or reconstruction.
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gutierrez-Herrera
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doukas
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Franco
mesh_terms: D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004817:Epidermis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D010781:Photography / Q000379:methods; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods