The use of ultraviolet light and fluorescence macrophotography in orthopedic morphology and pathology

The efficiency of ultraviolet light and fluorescence macrophotography in screening various tissues of the locomotor system was tested on 46 human and 43 animal specimens from surgical, experimental and autopsy material, examined as living tissues during operation, or as fresh, frozen or fixed specimens. After visual examination under UV light, the material was photographed in reflected UV light, fluorescence, infra-red, and normal white light, and the results compared. Visual examination under UV light and fluorescence photography appeared to give the most satisfactory results. These methods are superior to white light photography in that they give high resolution and increased contrast between individual locomotor system tissues, even after formalin fixation. The UV methods also revealed certain pathological changes in bone and articular cartilage which could be of diagnostic importance and would normally escape attention.