Quantification of collagen alteration in mid-dermis of skin lesion with mucinosis using second harmonic generation imaging

Cutaneous mucinoses are a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by abnormal deposition of dermal mucin. Considering the collagen disorder due to the mucin deposition, collagen microstructure was visualized by second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy to gain structural and diagnostic information. High resolution images of collagen in the dermis of skin lesion with mucinosis and healthy skin showed differences in their microstructures. SHG density as well as depth dependant decay coefficient was analyzed to quantitatively characterize the microstructure. Our results demonstrated the possibility of SHG imaging to in vivo tracking the pathological process of mucinoses and evaluate the therapeutic efficacy.