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Why does red light penetrate tissue further than blue light (confocal microscope) but is the first wavelength lost underwater?

During a recent lecture on the use of confocal microscopes, we were told that red light penetrates further into tissue than blue and green light.   This was demonstrated by the fact that a red laser is still visible when shone through a finger, but a green one isn’t.   This contradicts the loss of red light that is observed as you descend underwater; everything appears blue at depth when scuba diving.   Why is this?

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  • Asked by WillUK
  • on 2010-03-05 12:14:29
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Categories: Unanswered.

Tags: diving, scuba, light, microscopy, wavelength, imaging.

 

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Angelar says:

The absorbance of blue is only noticeable when the water is a metre or more deep. Fingers are much thinner so it is pigments that absorb most of the light in tissues. Haemoglobin in blood absorbs all colours except red, which is why the red laser is visible while others are not.

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Tags: diving, scuba, light, microscopy, wavelength, imaging.

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posted on 2010-08-02 21:06:54 | Report abuse


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