Dual-mode OCT/fluorescence system for monitoring the morphology and metabolism of laser-printed 3D full-thickness skin equivalents

Arooj Khalid, Viktor Dremin, Ayman El-Tamer, Maria Surnina, Celine Lancelot, Edik Rafailov, Sergei Sokolovski*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The 3D structure of native human skin is fundamental for studying skin health, diseases, wound healing, and for testing the safety of skin care products, as well as personalized treatments for skin conditions. Tissue regeneration, driven by tissue engineering, often involves creating full-thickness skin equivalents (FSE), which are widely used for developing both healthy and diseased skin models. In this study, we utilized human skin cell lines to create FSE. We designed high-resolution 3D scaffolds to support the growth and maturation of these skin models. Additionally, we developed and validated a cost-effective, custom-built system combining fluorescence spectroscopy (FS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) for non-destructive analysis of the metabolism and morphology of 3D FSEs. This system proved highly sensitive in detecting fluorescence from key metabolic co-enzymes (NADH and FAD) in solutions and cell suspensions, while OCT provided adequate resolution to observe the morphology of FSEs. As a result, both the 3D FSE model and the dual-mode optical system hold significant potential for use in 3D bioprinting of biological tissues, as well as in the development of cosmetics, drugs, and in monitoring their maturation over time.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6299-6312
Number of pages14
JournalBiomedical Optics Express
Volume15
Issue number11
Early online date10 Oct 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2024

Bibliographical note

Published by Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Data Access Statement

Data underlying the results presented in this paper are not publicly available at this time but may be obtained from the authors upon reasonable request.

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