title: Non-invasive imaging techniques in the diagnosis of skin diseases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in non-invasive imaging techniques in clinical and investigational dermatology. Besides the growing number of biophysical methods for the assessment of skin properties, novel imaging tools have emerged and classical imaging methods are substantially improved.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review focuses on well established and some of the most promising imaging techniques for application in dermatology and cutaneous research. These comprise dermoscopy, sonography, confocal microscopy, multiphoton tomography and optical coherence tomography. Non-invasive imaging techniques are presented concerning their functional principles, the history of their development and their current clinical and research application. Advantages and limitations of each of the methods are discussed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Available non-invasive imaging techniques in dermatology show substantial differences concerning their limitations and opportunities, potential clinical applicability and practicability. Also, the current data available differ largely between these methods due to different levels of experience in research and clinical application. Future research will not only aim at improving current technical limitations, but also investigate the potential synergistic effects of combining two or more techniques in order to enhance their diagnostic impact.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Jena, Department of Dermatology , Erfurter Str. 35, 07743 Jena , Germany +49 3641 9 37370 ; +49 3641 9 37343 ; johannes.koehler@med.uni-jena.de.
authors.forename: Martin Johannes
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Koehler
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lange-Asschenfeldt
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaatz