Assessment of hemoglobin dynamics in traumatic bruises using temperature depth profiling

Perceived color of traumatic bruise depends strongly on depth of the spilled blood, natural skin tone, ambient light conditions, etc., which prevents an accurate and reliable determination of the time of the injury. Pulsed photothermal radiometry (PPTR) allows noninvasive determination of the laser-induced temperature depth profile in human skin. We have applied this technique to characterize dynamics of extravasated hemoglobin in the bruise. Next, we use simple model of mass diffusion and biochemical transformation kinetics to simulate bruise dynamics. By applying Monte Carlo simulation of laser energy deposition, comparison with measured temperature profiles is possible. However, parameters of the model were previously not determined directly. Instead, biologically plausible values were assumed. We show how temperature depth profiling enables accurate monitoring of hemoglobin diffusion and degradation. Parameters of the model, hemoglobin mass diffusivity, hemoglobin degradation time, and skin geometry, can be estimated rather accurately. Derivation of bruise evolution parameters will be a valuable addition to existing bruise age determination techniques.