In vivo assessment of optical properties of basal cell carcinoma and differentiation of BCC subtypes by high-definition optical coherence tomography

Abstract

High-definition optical coherence tomography (HD-OCT) features of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) have recently been defined. We assessed in vivo optical properties (IV-OP) of BCC, by HD-OCT. Moreover their critical values for BCC subtype differentiation were determined. The technique of semi-log plot whereby an exponential function becomes linear has been implemented on HD-OCT signals. The relative attenuation factor (µraf ) at different skin layers could be assessed.. IV-OP of superficial BCC with high diagnostic accuracy (DA) and high negative predictive values (NPV) were (i) decreased µraf in lower part of epidermis and (ii) increased epidermal thickness (E-T). IV-OP of nodular BCC with good to high DA and NPV were (i) less negative µraf in papillary dermis compared to normal adjacent skin and (ii) significantly decreased E-T and papillary dermal thickness (PD-T). In infiltrative BCC (i) high µraf in reticular dermis compared to normal adjacent skin and (ii) presence of peaks and falls in reticular dermis had good DA and high NPV. HD-OCT seems to enable the combination of in vivo morphological analysis of cellular and 3-D micro-architectural structures with IV-OP analysis of BCC. This permits BCC sub-differentiation with higher accuracy than in vivo HD-OCT analysis of morphology alone.

Multimodal Microscopy for Skin Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy Guidance

“…When used individually and independently, both OCT and RCM can noninvasively detect superficial and nodular BCCs with sensitivities and specificities in the range 80% to 95% and 70% to 90%, respectively [12][13][14]. Furthermore, other studies have reported the ability of OCT to reliably detect the depth of BCCs in vivo [15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

The potential utility of integrated reflectance confocal microscopy-optical coherence tomography for guiding triage and therapy of basal cell carcinomas

“…We investigated the use of a non-invasive optical imaging method, based on integrating reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) into a single instrument. Many studies have shown that both OCT and RCM imaging, when used individually and independently can noninvasively detect superficial and nodular BCCs with sensitivities and specificities in the range 80-95% and 70-90%, respectively [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Since RCM provides cellular-level resolution, it can be used to accurately detect the morphological features of BCCs and provide high diagnostic accuracy.…”

Advances in optical coherence tomography in dermatology—a review

“…57 A study in HD-OCT demonstrated that subdifferentiation of BCC can be made with a higher accuracy when applying optical properties compared to morphology analysis alone. 58 The monitoring of therapeutic response to treatment is another field of OCT research that has developed recently. A higher accuracy of identifying residual BCC lesions and confirmation of complete response after photodynamic therapy compared to clinical evaluation has been shown in Ref.…”