Assessment of Optical Attenuation and Skin Thickness in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients Using Optical Coherence Tomography

Abstract

Diabetes management often involves invasive blood glucose monitoring, which can be uncomfortable for patients. Non-invasive techniques like multiple μ-spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (mμSORS) offer a promising alternative. To provide clinical data supporting mμSORS, we conducted a clinical trial with 198 participants to evaluate mμSORS for non-invasive blood glucose measurement. Using Optical Coherence Tomography, we studied skin thickness and optical attenuation in 172 diabetic and 26 healthy subjects. Results showed thicker stratum corneum and stratum spinosum (SS) in diabetics. Epidermal thickness increased with age and body mass index (BMI), decreased with skin brightness, and varied minimally with gender. Optical attenuation in SS was lower in diabetics, decreased with increasing a*, and was minimally affected by gender and BMI but increased with age in the upper dermis. These findings support mμSORS for accurate non-invasive glucose monitoring.