Line-field confocal optical coherence tomography for high-resolution noninvasive imaging of skin tumors

Arnaud Dubois (1) , Olivier Levecq (1) , Hicham Azimani (1) , David Siret (1) , Anaïs Barut , Mariano Suppa , Véronique del Marmol , Josep Malvehy , Elisa Cinotti , Pietro Rubegni , Jean-Luc Perrot (2)

1 Laboratoire Charles Fabry / Biophotonique
2 Valorial - Valorisation Recherche et Innovations Alimentaire

An optical technique called line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) is introduced for high-resolution, noninvasive imaging of human skin in vivo. LC-OCT combines the principles of time-domain optical coherence tomography and confocal microscopy with line illumination and detection using a broadband laser and a line-scan camera. LC-OCT measures the echo-time delay and amplitude of light backscattered from cutaneous microstructures through low-coherence interferometry associated with confocal spatial filtering. Multiple A-scans are acquired simultaneously while dynamically adjusting the focus. The resulting cross-sectional B-scan image is produced in real time at 10 frame∕s. With an isotropic spatial resolution of ∼1 μm, the LC-OCT images reveal a comprehensive structural mapping of skin at the cellular level down to a depth of ∼500 μm. LC-OCT has been applied to the imaging of various skin lesions, in vivo, including carcinomas and melanomas. LC-OCT images are found to strongly correlate with conventional histopathological images. The use of LC-OCT as an adjunct tool in medical practice could significantly improve clinical diagnostic accuracy while reducing the number of biopsies of benign lesions.

Keywords: optical coherence tomography; skin cancer; optical imaging; confocal microscopy

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Arnaud Dubois, Olivier Levecq, Hicham Azimani, David Siret, Anaïs Barut, et al.. Line-field confocal optical coherence tomography for high-resolution noninvasive imaging of skin tumors. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 2018, 23. ⟨hal-01913796⟩