The aim of this work is to improve the understanding of the interaction between photoacoustic waves and skin. We employ photoacoustic waves with 1 MPa amplitude and center frequencies of 100 MHz to transiently perturb model lipid membranes and the stratum corneum of mini pigs. The lipid structure transient perturbation observed is tentatively attributed to a temperature rise mechanism. We also try to show that the dynamic acoustic radiation force mechanism can explain the perturbation induced by photoacoustic waves in skin. Indeed, 15 bar pressure gradients across 5 corneocytes (approx. 5 μm wide) are shown to transiently perturb the skin structure.

Date Published: 11 December 2012
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8553, Optics in Health Care and Biomedical Optics V, 85531Z (11 December 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.2007326

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8553:
Optics in Health Care and Biomedical Optics V
Qingming Luo; Ying Gu; Xingde D. Li, Editor(s)