부산대학교 도서관

Biopsy sampling can cause wound infection and pain in older or diabetic patients, although histological examination of biopsy samples is the gold standard of structural analysis of the skin. High-frequency ultrasonography is a promising tool for noninvasive skin assessment. However, its applicability for structural analysis of the skin is unknown. In the present study, we compared the images of high-frequency ultrasonography with histological examination of pig skin, which is the most validated model of human skin. Ear and dorsal skin were harvested from a pig cadaver, and scanned in three positions with a 20-MHz linear ultrasonography probe. The scanned position was accurately marked and trimmed for histological examination with Mallory-Azan staining. The distribution of hypoechoic regions in the ultrasonographic images mostly corresponded to the sweat glands and hair follicles in the histological sections in the ear skin. Sweat-duct- and blood-vessel-like structures and the papillary dermis were partially depicted. These results suggest the applicability of high-frequency ultrasonography for structural analysis of normal skin.