Ultrasonic assessment of skin and wound with the scanning laser acoustic microscope

The ultrasonic attenuation coefficient and speed of canine wound tissue and adjacent skin have been studied at wound ages between 7 and 50 days with the scanning laser acoustic microscope at 100 MHz. Water, total collagen, and acid soluble collagen contents were determined for both wound and skin. Attenuation coefficient and speed were consistently greater for the skin than for the wound. Water content was generally higher and total collagen was generally lower in the wound tissue. Total collagen increased in the wound and its difference between wound and skin decreased with maturation. Attenuation coefficient (A in dB/mm) and speed (c in m/s) were highly significant with both total collagen and water. Mathematically, via least‐squares analysis, A = 1.67C + 6.3, A = − 1.77W + 154, c = 6.5C + 1460, and c = − 5.2W + 1923, where C is the total collagen (as percentage on a wet weight basis) and W is the percent water. [This work supported by NIH AM 21557 and CA 36029.]