Shanghai Skin Disease Clinical College of Anhui Medical University, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Institute of Photomedicine, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
J Biophotonics. 2021 Jun;14(6):e202000490. doi: 10.1002/jbio.202000490. Epub 2021 Mar 14.
Non-invasively diagnosis of actinic keratoses (AK) is important for preventing cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can be used to detect the cross-sectional skin micromorphology with sufficient resolution and imaging depth. It has the capability to reveal the changes in skin microstructure during the development of AK. Therefore, OCT can serve as a tool for diagnosing AK. This study explores the feasibility of OCT in evaluating the structural changes in mouse skin at the different stages following exposure to ultraviolet radiation. The performance of OCT is compared with histology, the gold standard in this context. The imaging results demonstrate that a wave-shaped irregular dermo-epidermal junction (DEJ), as well as the continuous thickening of the epidermis, are useful diagnostic parameters for diagnosing AK. Histological examinations confirm these observations. These findings emphasize the need for effective skin protection or medical treatment once changes in the DEJ and epidermis are detected. OCT shows strong potential for non-invasive evaluation of such changes and AK development, and can be used for the prevention of cSCC without the necessity of taking biopsies.
非侵入性诊断光化性角化病（AK）对于预防皮肤鳞状细胞癌（cSCC）非常重要。光学相干断层扫描（OCT）可用于以足够的分辨率和成像深度检测皮肤的横向微观形态。它有能力揭示 AK 发展过程中皮肤微观结构的变化。因此，OCT 可以作为诊断 AK 的工具。本研究探讨了 OCT 在评估紫外线辐射后不同阶段小鼠皮肤结构变化方面的可行性。将 OCT 的性能与组织学进行了比较，组织学是该背景下的金标准。成像结果表明，波浪形不规则的表皮-真皮交界处（DEJ）以及表皮的连续增厚是诊断 AK 的有用诊断参数。组织学检查证实了这些观察结果。这些发现强调了一旦检测到 DEJ 和表皮的变化，就需要进行有效的皮肤保护或医学治疗。OCT 显示出在非侵入性评估这些变化和 AK 发展方面的强大潜力，并且可以在无需进行活检的情况下用于预防 cSCC。
