Three-dimensional multiphoton/optical coherence tomography for diagnostic applications in dermatology

A preliminary clinical trial using state-of-the-art multiphoton tomography (MPT) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) for three-dimensional (3D) multimodal in vivo imaging of normal skin, nevi, scars and pathologic skin lesions has been conducted. MPT enabled visualization of sub-cellular details with axial and transverse resolutions of <2 m and <0.5 m, respectively, from a volume of 0.35 x 0.35 x 0.2 mm3 at a frame rate of 0.14 Hz (512 x 512 pixels). State-of-the-art OCT, operating at a center wavelength of 1300 nm, was capable of acquiring 3D images depicting the layered architecture of skin with axial and transverse resolutions approximate to 8 m and approximate to 20 m, respectively, from a volume of 7 x 3.5 x 1.5 mm3 at a frame rate of 46 Hz (1024 x 1024 pixels). This study demonstrates the clinical diagnostic potential of MPT/OCT for pre-screening relatively large areas of skin using 3D OCT to identify suspicious regions at microscopic level and subsequently using high resolution MPT to obtain zoomed in, sub-cellular level information of the respective regions ((c) 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)