Li C, Du Y, Chen H, Han X, Wu W, Kong X, Zhang C, Yuan X. Transmission infrared micro-spectroscopic study of individual human hair.
JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL OPTICS 2023;
28:116501. [PMID:
37937254 PMCID:
PMC10627096 DOI:
10.1117/1.jbo.28.11.116501]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Significance
Understanding the optical transmission property of human hair, especially in the infrared regime, is vital in physical, clinical, and biomedical research. However, the majority of infrared spectroscopy on human hair is performed in the reflection mode, which only probes the absorptance of the surface layer.
Aim
The direct transmission spectrum of individual hair without horizontal cut offers a rapid and non-destructive test of the hair cortex but is less investigated experimentally due to the small size and strong absorption of the hair.
Approach
In this work, we conduct a transmission infrared micro-spectroscopic study on individual human hair with the help of Fourier-transform infrared microscope experimentally. Its high spatial resolution of infrared micro-spectroscopy further allows the comparison among different regions of hair. The geometry effect of the internal hair structure is also quantified using the finite-element simulation, which supports the experimental results.
Results
By utilizing direct measurements of the transmission spectrum using a Fourier-transform infrared microscope, the human hair is found to display prominent band filtering behavior. In a case study of adult-onset Still's disease, the corresponding infrared transmission exhibits systematic variations of spectral weight as the disease evolves.
Conclusions
Our work implies that the variation of spectral weight may relate to the disordered microscopic structure variation of the hair cortex during an inflammatory attack. Our work reveals the potential of hair infrared transmission spectrum in tracing the variation of hair cortex retrospectively.
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