Optical properties of neonatal skin measured in vivo as a function of age and skin pigmentation
Open accessAbstract
Knowledge of the optical properties of neonatal skin is invaluable when developing new, or improving existing optical techniques for use at the neonatal intensive care. In this article, we present in vivo measurements of the absorption μa and reduced scattering coefficient μs′ of neonatal skin between 450 and 600 nm and assess the influence of age and skin pigmentation on the optical properties. The optical properties were measured using a spatially resolved, steady state diffuse reflectance spectroscopy setup, combined with a modified spatially resolved diffusion model. The method was validated on phantoms with known values for the absorption and reduced scattering coefficient. Values of μa and μs′ were obtained from the skin at four different body locations (forehead, sternum, hand, and foot) of 60 neonates with varying gestational age, postnatal age, and skin pigmentation. We found that μa ranged from 0.02 to 1.25 mm−1 and μs′ was in the range of 1 to 2.8 mm−1 (5th to 95th percentile of the patient population), independent of body location. In contrast to previous studies, no to very weak correlation was observed between the optical properties and gestational maturity, but a strong dependency of the absorption coefficient on postnatal age was found for dark skinned patients.
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At 600 nm, absorption data published by Bosschaart et al. are progressively greater with increasing skin pigmentation than Tseng et al.'s data, being 25%, 45%, and 77% greater for FST I-II, III-IV, and V-VI, respectively.
“At 600 nm, absorption data published by Bosschaart et al.42 are progressively greater with increasing skin pigmentation than Tseng et al.’s41 data, being 25%, 45%, and 77% greater for FST I–II, III–IV, and V–VI, respectively.”
From Effect of skin color on optical properties and the implications for medical optical technologies: a review (2024) · cites this paper as [42]
In neonates, skin location did not have a significant effect on optical coefficients, but absorption increased significantly in skin type V-VI compared with skin type I-II and III-IV patients with time after birth.
“In neonates, skin location did not have a significant effect on optical coefficients, but absorption was shown to increase significantly in skin type V–VI compared with skin type I–II and III–IV patients with time after birth.”
From Effect of skin color on optical properties and the implications for medical optical technologies: a review (2024) · cites this paper as [42]
The maximum sample number for FST V-VI is 6.
“the maximum sample number for FST V–VI is 6.41,42,44,46,48”
From Effect of skin color on optical properties and the implications for medical optical technologies: a review (2024) · cites this paper as [42]
At 500 nm, Bosschaart et al.'s data are 73% and 77% greater than Tseng et al.'s for FST I-II and III-IV, respectively.
“At 500 nm, the differences are more marked, with Bosschaart et al.’s42 data being 73% and 77% greater than Tseng et al.’s41 for FST I–II and III–IV, respectively.”
From Effect of skin color on optical properties and the implications for medical optical technologies: a review (2024) · cites this paper as [42]
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References 22 · Cited by 49
- Authors
- Bosschaart, N., Mentink, R., van Leeuwen, A. G. J. M. T., Aalders, M. C., & Kok, J. H.
- Affiliations
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- Univ. van Amsterdam
- Venue
- Journal of Biomedical Optics
- Publisher
- SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng
- Published
- 2011-09-01
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 09
- Pages
- 1-11
- ISSN
- 1083-3668 (ISSN-L)
- 1560-2281
- OpenAlex
- W2158332607
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 0.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Biomedical Optics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion)
- University of Twente Research Information (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Vernieuwingsimpuls program (MCGA: AGT07547)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Spectroscopy Techniques in Biomedical and Chemical Research
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Non-Invasive Vital Sign Monitoring
- Keywords
- neonatal skin, optical properties, absorption coefficient, reduced scattering coefficient, skin pigmentation, postnatal age, gestational age, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, neonatal intensive care, skin phantom
- MeSH terms
- Absorption, Adult, Age Factors, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Infant, Premature, Models, Biological, Scattering, Radiation, Skin, Skin Physiological Phenomena, Skin Pigmentation, Spectrum Analysis, Reproducibility of Results, Intensive Care, Neonatal, Multivariate Analysis, Statistics, Nonparametric, Phantoms, Imaging, Tomography, Optical Coherence
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