Use of Vibrational Optical Coherence Tomography to Characterize Skin Lesions and a Congenital Nevus

Abstract

We have used vibrational optical coherence tomography (VOCT) to image and measure the mechanical properties of normal skin and skin lesions. It is observed that in a congenital nevus and normal skin, the cellular epidermis is qualitatively not as bright as in skin lesions including basal cell carcinoma, actinic keratosis and a melanocytic nevus. Melanin and cytochrome c oxidase are reported to attenuate the reflection of near-infrared light at a wavelength of 810 nm and therefore may explain the reduced reflection of light in a congenital nevus and normal skin under conditions where cytochrome c oxidase levels would be expected to be high. Our results suggest that the melanin and cytochrome c oxidase levels found in congenital nevus and skin lesions may influence the observed pixel density observed in OCT images. For this reason, a correction for the content of these components in the skin must be considered before quantitative pixel measurements can be correctly interpreted. Additional measurements of pixel density along with the moduli of cellular and collagenous components in skin and skin lesions are needed to further interpret the significance of “virtual biopsies” made using VOCT.