TY - JOUR

T1 - Mueller Matrix Analysis of Collagen and Gelatin Containing Samples Towards More Objective Skin Tissue Diagnostics

AU - Fricke, Dierk

AU - Becker, Alexander

AU - Heratizadeh, Annice

AU - Knigge, Sara

AU - Jütte, Lennart

AU - Wollweber, Merve

AU - Werfel, Thomas

AU - Roth, Bernhard Wilhelm

AU - Glasmacher, Birgit

N1 - Funding Information: Funding: This project is funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Culture and Science (MWK) through the program Tailored Light and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy within the Cluster of Excellence PhoenixD (EXC 2122, Project ID 390833453). The research project is also supported by the DFG in the framework of the Research Unit 2180 ”Graded Implants for Tendon–Bone Junctions”.

PY - 2020/6/22

Y1 - 2020/6/22

N2 - Electrospun polycaprolactone:gelatin (PCL:GT) fibre scaffolds are widely employed in the field of tissue implants. Here, the orientation of fibres plays an important role in regard to implantation due to the impact on the mechanical properties. Likewise, the orientation of collagen fibres in skin tissue is relevant for dermatology. State-of-the-art fibre orientation measurement methods like electron microscopy are time consuming and destructive. In this work, we demonstrate polarimetry as a non-invasive approach and evaluate its potential by measuring the Mueller matrix (MM) of gelatin and collagen containing samples as simple skin tissue phantoms. We demonstrate that it is possible to determine the orientation of PCL:GT fibre scaffolds within one MM measurement. Furthermore, we determine the structural orientation in collagen film samples. Currently, the diagnosis of skin diseases is often performed by image analysis or histopathology respectively, which are either subjective or invasive. The method presented, here, provides an interesting alternative approach for such investigations. Our findings indicate that the orientation of collagen fibres within skin lesions might be detectable by MM measurements in the future, which is of interest for skin diagnostics, and will be further investigated during the next step.

AB - Electrospun polycaprolactone:gelatin (PCL:GT) fibre scaffolds are widely employed in the field of tissue implants. Here, the orientation of fibres plays an important role in regard to implantation due to the impact on the mechanical properties. Likewise, the orientation of collagen fibres in skin tissue is relevant for dermatology. State-of-the-art fibre orientation measurement methods like electron microscopy are time consuming and destructive. In this work, we demonstrate polarimetry as a non-invasive approach and evaluate its potential by measuring the Mueller matrix (MM) of gelatin and collagen containing samples as simple skin tissue phantoms. We demonstrate that it is possible to determine the orientation of PCL:GT fibre scaffolds within one MM measurement. Furthermore, we determine the structural orientation in collagen film samples. Currently, the diagnosis of skin diseases is often performed by image analysis or histopathology respectively, which are either subjective or invasive. The method presented, here, provides an interesting alternative approach for such investigations. Our findings indicate that the orientation of collagen fibres within skin lesions might be detectable by MM measurements in the future, which is of interest for skin diagnostics, and will be further investigated during the next step.

KW - Collagen

KW - Electrospinning

KW - Fibre alignment

KW - Gelatin

KW - Mueller matrix

KW - Raman spectroscopy

KW - Tissue engineering

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087811625&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/polym12061400

DO - 10.3390/polym12061400

M3 - Article

C2 - 32580462

AN - SCOPUS:85087811625

VL - 12

JO - Polymers

JF - Polymers

SN - 2073-4360

IS - 6

M1 - 1400

ER -