A new sonographic method for the evaluation of skin permeability changes after irradiation with low-frequency ultrasound

Raffaele Novario; Fabio Tanzi; Alfredo Goddi; Roberto Monico; Camilla Fachinetti; Mario Lega; Roberto Onori; Francesca Pavani

doi:10.1117/12.707610

12 March 2007 A new sonographic method for the evaluation of skin permeability changes after irradiation with low-frequency ultrasound

Raffaele Novario, Fabio Tanzi, Alfredo Goddi, Roberto Monico, Camilla Fachinetti, Mario Lega, Roberto Onori, Francesca Pavani

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6513, Medical Imaging 2007: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing; 65131B (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.707610
Event: Medical Imaging, 2007, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The irradiation of the skin with low-frequency ultrasound (42 MHz) increases the skin permeability, allowing the US stimulated drug delivery (sonophoresis). The changes in the skin permeability is generally demonstrated with the measurement of corneometry and transepidermal water loss (TEWL). A novel ultrasound scanner with a 50 MHz probe was used for acquiring images of the skin (penetration depth few millimeters). The images show the different epidermal and dermis layers. A specially designed plexiglas basin containing an US transducer was used. Water was used as matching medium. The transducer was set to generate a 42 MHz continuous wave US beam with an intensity of 150 mW/cm² for a chosen preset time. Ninety healthy volunteers were submitted to exposure of the back of the hand. The back of the hand of each person was scanned at 50 MHz before the irradiation and after 1, 15 and 60 minutes. A significant variation of the stratum corneum and the derma on the sonographic image was found. A particular software code was developed in order to quantify the amount of the variation in the image, using different parameters (entropy, energy, skewness, kurtosis, etc.) related to the pixel value in different regions of interest and to the cumulated profile along lines perpendicular to the skin surface. The variations in the parameters so defined were demonstrated to be statistically significant and with a sensibility much higher than corneometry and TEWL. This new approach allow to better understand the mechanism and quantify the changes in the skin permeability.

Citation Download Citation

Raffaele Novario, Fabio Tanzi, Alfredo Goddi, Roberto Monico, Camilla Fachinetti, Mario Lega, Roberto Onori, and Francesca Pavani "A new sonographic method for the evaluation of skin permeability changes after irradiation with low-frequency ultrasound", Proc. SPIE 6513, Medical Imaging 2007: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing, 65131B (12 March 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.707610

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