Assessment of Tartrazine Diffusion Properties in Skeletal Muscle

Evaluating diffusion properties of novel optical clearing (OC) agents is critical for advancing medical imaging. Tartrazine (TTZ), a strong absorbing dye, has shown promise in enhancing tissue transparency, yet its diffusion properties remain uncharacterized. In this work, OC treatments with TTZ-water solutions with varying osmolarities were performed, and the diffusion times (τ) that characterize the tissue dehydration and the RI matching mechanisms were estimated. From kineticTcmeasurements during treatment,τvalues of water and TTZ were estimated in muscles as 60.0 s and 416.0 s, respectively. Corresponding diffusion coefficients (D) were derived from sample thickness data measured during treatments where the unique fluxes of TTZ and water occur. The respectiveDvalues were then calculated as 1.9 × 10-6cm2/s for water and 3.6 × 10-7cm2/s for TTZ. These findings provide key insights into TTZ diffusion in skeletal muscle and support its potential as an effective OC agent.