Linking visual appearance of skin to the underlying optical properties using multispectral imaging

Underlying optical properties linked to the visual appearance of skin was studied by obtaining reflectance images using a multispectral imaging system. The analysis of the resulting reflectance spectra yields the melanin content M (volume fraction of melanosome in the pigmented epi-dermis), the blood content B (average volume fraction of whole blood in skin), oxygen saturation level S, water content W (average volume fraction of water in tissue) and the reduced scattering μ'_s500 at 500 nm. The spatial map of the optical properties can now be linked to the visual appearance of the skin.