Spatially resolved diffuse reflectance and autofluorescence photon depth distribution in human skin spectroscopy: a modeling study

Published in Proceeding SPIE 11553, Optics in Health Care and Biomedical Optics X, 115531A (10 October 2020)International audienceIn the context of cutaneous carcinoma diagnosis, diffuse reflectance and skin endogenous fluorescence spectra can be analysed to spatially discard a healthy from a pathological area. Indeed, carcinogenesis is at the origin of morphological changes such as elastosis in the upper part of the dermis, or the decrease of NADH fluorescence in the basal layer of the epidermis. To ensure that the photons that contribute to the diffuse reflectance and autofluorescence spectra are likely to carry the information related to these local phenomena, we conducted an in Silico study of photon penetration into the skin. The simulation results provided numerical evidences of the behaviour of detected photons in the tissue. In particular, we succeeded in linking the characteristic penetration depth of the detected photons to their wavelengths and the source-sensor distance