title: Imaging Blood Vessel Morphology in Skin: Dynamic Optical Coherence Tomography as a Novel Potential Diagnostic Tool in Dermatology.
abstract: Conventional optical coherence tomography (OCT) enables the visualization of morphological changes of skin cancer. The use of OCT in the diagnostic investigation and in the therapy decision of non-melanoma skin cancer and other skin changes is already established, and has found its way into routine practice. With the development of speckle-variance OCT, also named dynamic OCT (D-OCT), the vascular architecture and the blood flow of the skin can be displayed in vivo and in 3D. This novel angiographic variant of OCT offers the ability to visualize and measure vessel morphology providing a new insight into healthy, inflammatory and neoplastic skin lesions such as malignant melanoma. This review focuses on the possibilities of using D-OCT on healthy and diseased skin. We suggest and illustrate key diagnostic characteristics by analyzing the initial publications and preliminary unpublished data on vessel morphology and distribution. The potential of D-OCT as a diagnostic tool in dermatology is examined and may give rise to future studies on D-OCT, which are needed to confirm the aforementioned features.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, General Hospital Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schuh
authors.affiliation: Michelson Diagnostics Ltd., Maidstone, UK.
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: CMB Collegium Medicum Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ulrich
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Zealand University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lotte
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Themstrup
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Zealand University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark.
authors.forename: Gregor B E
authors.initials: GBE
authors.lastname: Jemec
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pellacani
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, General Hospital Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany. Julia.Welzel@klinikum-augsburg.de.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Welzel
keywords: Degenerative skin diseases; Dynamic optical coherence tomography; Healthy skin; Imaging method; Inflammatory skin diseases; Malignant melanoma; Non-melanoma skin cancer; Noninvasive diagnosis; Skin blood vessels; Treatment effects