Study of skin rigidity variations due to UV radiation using digital holographic interferometry

• Published in: Optics and lasers in engineering 2020-03, Vol.126, p.105909, Article 105909
• Main Authors: Acosta, Luis Silva, del Socorro Hernández M., María, Santoyo, Fernando Mendoza, De la Torre I., Manuel H., Moreno, Jorge Mauricio Flores, Frausto R., Gloria, Muñoz S., Silvino
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Digital holographic interferometry; Skin elasticity; Skin rigidity; Ultraviolet radiation
• ISSN: 0143-8166; 1873-0302
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optlaseng.2019.105909

•Our research proposes a new mathematical formulation to skin rigidity based on the laws of non-linear elasticity in anisotropic systems that reflect real skin properties. This formulation is presented for the first time in the literature.•We use digital holographic interferometry to measure out of plane displacement fields from samples of UV exposed skin: different timings and amounts of radiation are considered.•The rigidity measurements were made on fresh skin to guarantee a precise approximation of the rigidity (and its variations).•Our results suggest an increment in rigidity under prolonged exposure to UV radiation, confirming the reported results in previous works in which a reduction in elasticity was found with the ageing of the skin.•The rigidity values obtained for fresh pig skin can serve as reference values in future works that deal with the characterization of tissues and their associated diseases. The skin elasticity is a relevant biomechanical property that can be related to different physiological processes and diseases: hence, it is important to understand and characterize the mechanisms that affect the skin pathologies. In this work, an analysis of the rigidity variations of porcine skin caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation is presented. For this purpose digital holographic interferometry (dhi) is used as a non-invasive optical technique to study these skin affectations. A new mathematical scheme for the skin rigidity variations was developed and the experimental data was used to study and determine the rigidity coefficients for the samples before and after ultraviolet exposure of the skin. The results after high doses of ultraviolet radiation at 8 mW/cm2 UVA, 8 mW/cm2 UVB and 10 mW/cm2 UVC for periods of 3 min showed that these rigidity coefficients increased above 100% (more than twice) their value after the ultraviolet exposure. The latter suggests a considerable reduction of the porcine skin elasticity when exposed to high doses of ultraviolet radiation, a feature that has been proved to lead to skin melanoma.