Optical Clearing of Biological Tissue Phantoms by Tartrazine Solutions
Vasilii M. Kovalenko, Roman V. Sheptitsky, Isabella A. Serebryakova, Yuriy I. Surkov, Elina A. Genina; Saratov State University, Saratov, Russia
Abstract
Light scattering due to refractive index mismatches in biological tissues limits the depth and resolution of optical imaging. Recently, the food dye tartrazine has emerged as a promising agent for in vivo optical clearing, leveraging its strong blue/UV absorption to increase the refractive index of aqueous media in the red spectral range, thereby reducing scattering and enhancing tissue transparency. Studies show tartrazine enables reversible, non-invasive visualization of deep structures like cerebral vessels and muscle sarcomeres in live animals. This work investigates the clearing efficacy of tartrazine at varying concentrations using tissue-simulating phantoms containing Intralipid or TiO₂ as scatterers. Optical properties are monitored via OCT, diffuse reflectance, collimated transmittance, and image analysis to assess the influence of scatterer type and refractive index on clearing efficiency, advancing the potential for non-invasive deep-tissue imaging.
This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation under research project No. 23-14-00287
Speaker
Vasilii M. Kovalenko
Saratov State University, Saratov, Russia
Russia
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