Simultaneous assessment of pulsating and total blood in inflammatory skin lesions using functional diffuse reflectance spectroscopy in the visible range.

We present a simple and cost-effective optical technique for the simultaneous assessment of pulsating and total blood noninvasively in an inflammatory skin lesion. Acquisitions of diffuse reflectance spectra in the visible range at 6 Hz are used to trace the oscillating components of reflectance. Measurements on erythematous lesions from a UV insult show slow changing signal at about 0.1 Hz and heart-driven regular oscillations at about 1 Hz simultaneously. The results demonstrate the potential of the technique in monitoring both pulsating and steady components of the blood in inflammatory lesions of the skin.