title: Comprehensive vascular imaging using optical coherence tomography-based angiography and photoacoustic tomography.
abstract: Studies have proven the relationship between cutaneous vasculature abnormalities and dermatological disorders, but to image vasculature noninvasively <italic<in vivo</italic<, advanced optical imaging techniques are required. In this study, we imaged a palm of a healthy volunteer and three subjects with cutaneous abnormalities with photoacoustic tomography (PAT) and optical coherence tomography with angiography extension (OCTA). Capillaries in the papillary dermis that are too small to be discerned with PAT are visualized with OCTA. From our results, we speculate that the PA signal from the palm is mostly from hemoglobin in capillaries rather than melanin, knowing that melanin concentration in volar skin is significantly smaller than that in other areas of the skin. We present for the first time OCTA images of capillaries along with the PAT images of the deeper vessels, demonstrating the complementary effective imaging depth range and the visualization capabilities of PAT and OCTA for imaging human skin <italic<in vivo</italic<. The proposed imaging system in this study could significantly improve treatment monitoring of dermatological diseases associated with cutaneous vasculature abnormalities.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, AKH 4L, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Behrooz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zabihian
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, AKH 4L, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, AKH 4L, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Elisabet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rank
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Department of Dermatology, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sinz
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, AKH 4L, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonesi
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, AKH 4L, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sattmann
authors.affiliation: Insight Photonic Solutions, Inc., 300 South Public Road, Lafayette, Colorado 80026, United States.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ensher
authors.affiliation: Insight Photonic Solutions, Inc., 300 South Public Road, Lafayette, Colorado 80026, United States.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Minneman
authors.affiliation: Insight Photonic Solutions, Inc., 300 South Public Road, Lafayette, Colorado 80026, United States.
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoover
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Department of Dermatology, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Jessika
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weingast
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, AKH 4L, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Laurin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ginner
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, AKH 4L, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leitgeb
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Department of Dermatology, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kittler
authors.affiliation: University College London, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Gower Street, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: University College London, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Gower Street, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Beard
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, AKH 4L, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Drexler
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, AKH 4L, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, Vienna 1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Mengyang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu