Influence of optical clearing agents on the scattering properties of human nail bed and blood microrheological properties: In vivo and in vitro study.

Optical clearing agents (OCAs) are substances that temporarily modify tissue's optical properties, enabling better imaging and light penetration. This study aimed to assess the impact of OCAs on the nail bed and blood using in vivo and in vitro optical methods. In the in vivo part, OCAs were applied to the nail bed, and optical coherence tomography and optical digital capillaroscopy were used to evaluate their effects on optical clearing and capillary blood flow, respectively. In the in vitro part, the collected blood samples were incubated with the OCA and blood aggregation properties were estimated using diffuse light scattering techniques. The results indicate that OCAs significantly influence the optical properties of the nail bed and blood microrheology. These findings suggest that OCAs hold promise for improving optical imaging and diagnostics, particularly for nail bed applications, and can modify blood microrheology.