Abstract-Terahertz spectroscopy of human skin tissue models with different melanin content

Xomalin G. Peralta, Dawn Lipscomb, Gerald J. Wilmink, and Ibtissam Echchgadda

Fig. 1 Human skin tissue model. (a) Schematic illustration of the wells used for culturing skin tissue models. (b-d) Top down digital photographs of (b) Asian, (c) Black, and (d) Caucasian skin tissue models on Day 16.

https://www.osapublishing.org/boe/abstract.cfm?uri=boe-10-6-2942

Terahertz imaging has been proposed for burns and skin cancer identification. However, the role of melanocytes, melanosomes, melanin content and distribution in determining the terahertz optical properties of human skin has not been investigated. We use terahertz time domain spectroscopy to measure the optical properties of in vitro pigmented human skin tissue models from Asian, Black, and Caucasian donors. Spectra were collected at various time intervals and used to extract the absorption coefficient and index of refraction at terahertz frequencies. Our results indicate that the degree of cell differentiation and type of donor both contribute to the measured terahertz optical properties.