Our Research

Most treatments and diagnoses are designed without properly considering highly pigmented skin (e.g. dark skin). For these skin types, the high melanin absorption in the epidermis, which is a thin skin layer, can cause overheating, and eventually cause skin damage. Our research focuses on understanding how the skin parameters (physiological and optical properties) can influence light-based treatments (photobiomodulation, photodynamic therapy, etc.) and optical diagnosis (e.g. pulse oximetry, optical fiber measurements), considering multiple skin phototypes. This kind of research can ultimately lead to the development of reformulated ways to safely light in health sciences, for all skin types.

The way light is distributed into the tissues is highly important both for light-based treatments and for optical diagnosis. This light-biological tissue interaction is mainly governed by the optical properties of these tissues, which makes it essential to have an easy-to-use way of measuring the optical properties of tissues before being treated. This project focuses on the use of spatially-resolved diffuse reflectance to estimate these optical properties in vivo, a method that can be used in a clinical scenario.