Method of and apparatus for investigating tissue histology

A method of mapping the papillary surface of an area of the dermis which comprises illuminating the surface of the skin over that area with light and monitoring the intensity of the light remitted from along at least one line or sequence of points, the light having a wavelength sufficiently far into the infra-red that its absorption by melanin and blood is negligible, or having at least two wavelengths of which at least one is in excess of 600 nm and deriving therefrom a theoretical intensity of remitted light which is independent of the presence of melanin or blood, and from the remitted light intensity deriving a signal corresponding to the concentration of collagen within the papillary dermis along the or each line or at each point, and producing a contoured image in which the apparent elevation of any point is dependent upon the strength of such signal.

Apparatus for monitoring the presence of one or more chromophores in a biological tissue sample, which apparatus comprises

• a light source for projecting light to illuminate an area of such tissue sample,
• a photo-receptor for receiving light remitted by the illuminated area of tissue, and a spectroscopic analyzer for monitoring the remitted light,
• a comparator for comparing variations in the intensity and spectral characteristics of the remitted light with respect to the intensity and spectral characteristics of the projected light at different wavelengths and with data representing a datum sample of intensity and spectral characteristics of light and a signal emitter for emitting a control signal in response to any such variations.

Apparatus for mapping the papillary surface of an area of the dermis which comprises a light source illuminating the surface of the skin over that area with light which either has a wavelength sufficiently far into the infra-red that its absorption by melanin and blood is negligible, or which has at least two wavelengths of which at least one is in excess of 600 nm, means for monitoring the intensity of the light remitted along at least one line or sequence of points, and deriving therefrom an intensity or theoretical intensity of remitted light which is independent of the presence of melanin or blood, and means for deriving a signal from the remitted light intensity corresponding to the concentration of collagen within the papillary dermis along the or each line or at each point, and for producing a contoured image in which the apparent elevation of any point is dependent upon the strength of such signal.

A method of analyzing biological tissue comprising illuminating the tissue with light, spectrally measuring and analyzing the differences between the incident and remitted light, the analysis of this data to define a parameter of the tissue, the normalization of the data to a standard value of that parameter using a predictive mathematical model of the optical properties of the biological tissue, and the subsequent measurement of a further parameter from that normalized data.

A method for analyzing biological tissue comprising the illumination of the tissue with light, the spectral measurement of the differences between the incident and remitted light, the analysis of these data by comparison of features present within these data with a previous mapping of these features to components or structures present in the tissue.