Algorithm and device testing for quantitative analysis of skin fluorescence with regard to a relative blood volume in it on the example of radiation-induced erythema in animals
The absorption of light by blood contributes significant noises to the performance of in vivo laser fluorescence spectroscopy devices, making it necessary to take this influence into account during data processing. In the presented work, a pilot experimental study of the authors’ algorithm for calculating a relative concentration of fluorophores in skin taking into account its blood content has been carried out. The proposed algorithm is analytical and based on the modified Kubelka-Munk model. In the experiment, different levels of blood volume were simulated using radiation-induced erythema in white non-linear mice, whose skin was exposed to UV irradiation. Relative blood volume was estimated by RGB image analysis using regression equations. In vivo spectra of diffuse reflectance, endogenous and exogenous fluorescence of both irradiated and intact skin were recorded. The ability of the relative fluorophore concentrations computational algorithm to compensate the underestimation of recorded fluorescence signals due to the absorption of visible-band radiation by blood was demonstrated.