ABSTRACT
Light interacts with the largest optical organ of the body in many interrelated ways. One of these is autofluorescence of the skin, which is the fluorescence emission of natural fluorophores inside the skin tissue upon excitation by absorption of certain wavelength of light. Combining of autofluorescence and diffuse reflectance measurements was proposed to assist in the correct interpretation of skin autofluorescence spectra. Human skin exhibits additional fluorescence features for excitation wavelengths longer than 400 nm when compared against the hairless mouse skin fluorescence. Both the fluorophore microdistribution and the intrinsic fluorescence spectral curves were obtained, providing more accurate foundations for theoretical modeling of in vivo fluorescence measurements. The autofluorescence image of a skin tissue section can be seen through the eyepieces of the microspectrophotometer and recorded by a couple-charged device color camera. Diseased skin exhibits significant changes in chemical composition and morphological structure.
