Depth-resolved investigation of multiple optical properties and wrinkle morphology in eye-corner areas with...

Multi-contrast Jones matrix optical coherence tomography (JM-OCT) can provide quantitative depth-resolved local optical properties by improving the measurement algorithm.

We examined the relationship between depth-resolved local optical properties of eye-corner skin measured by JM-OCT and corresponding wrinkle morphology of aged women (n = 21; age range, 71.7 ± 1.7 years). Wrinkle morphology was analyzed by measuring the surface topography of three-dimensional replicas. The same regions were measured three-dimensionally by JM-OCT, and the local optical properties at each depth were computed.

Birefringence (BR) and mean wrinkle depth correlated significantly at a depth of 88.2-138.6 µm from the skin surface, and attenuation coefficient (AC) and mean wrinkle depth correlated significantly at a depth of 12.6-18.9 µm and 189-459.9 μm from the skin surface, although a degree of polarization uniformity (DOPU) did not. Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that a significant regression equation (R²  = 0.649, P < .001) for predicting mean wrinkle depth was determined by BR at 107.1 µm depth (BR _{107.1 µm} ), DOPU at 170.1 µm (DOPU _170.1µm ), and AC at 252 µm (AC _{252 µm} ) as independent variables and that these standardized beta regression coefficients were -0.860, -0.593, and -0.440, respectively, suggesting that BR, DOPU, and AC sufficiently explained mean wrinkle depth.

These results suggest that BR _{107.1 µm} , DOPU _{170.1 µm,} and AC _{252 µm} may indicate collagen-related structure in the papillary, upper-reticular dermis, and microstructure or tissue density in reticular dermis, respectively, and may be involved in wrinkle formation.