High-Definition Optical Coherence Tomography for the in vivo Detection of Demodex Mites

Abstract

Background: Demodex mites are involved in different skin diseases and are commonly detected by skin scrape tests or superficial biopsies. A new high-definition optical coherence tomography (HD-OCT) with high lateral and axial resolution in a horizontal (en-face) and vertical (slice) imaging mode might offer the possibility of noninvasive and fast in vivo examination of demodex mites. Methods: Twenty patients with demodex-related skin diseases and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were examined by HD-OCT. Mites per follicle and follicles per field of view were counted and compared to skin scrape tests. Results: HD-OCT images depicted mites in the en-face mode as bright round dots in groups of 3–5 mites per hair follicle. In the patients with demodex-related disease, a mean number of 3.4 mites per follicle were detected with a mean number of 2.9 infested follicles per area of view compared to a mean of 0.6 mites in 0.4 infested follicles in the controls. The skin scrape tests were negative in 21% of the patients. Conclusion: The innovative HD-OCT enables fast and noninvasive in vivo recognition of demodex mites and might become a useful tool in the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of demodex-related skin diseases.

Aquagenic Wrinkling of the Palms: Morphological Changes in Reflectance Confocal Microscopy and High-Definition Optical Coherence Tomography

“…Also, inflammatory reactions such as contact or allergic eczema and infestations with parasites have been studied using these techniques [15,16]. These innovative imaging devices enable the noninvasive, in vivo evaluation even of transient skin alterations.…”

High‐definition optical coherence tomography and reflectance confocal microscopy in the in vivo visualization of a reaction to permanent make‐up

“…[4][5][6] But also inflammatory reactions, for instance, contact or allergic eczema and infestations with parasites, have been studied with these techniques. [7][8][9] The possibility of a non-invasive in vivo evaluation of skin alterations makes these imaging devices an interesting adjunctive tool in the investigation of adverse tattoo reactions. In this case report, we describe an adverse reaction to permanent make-up tattooing by using HD-OCT and RCM and report on the treatment options.…”

Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging of Erythroplasia of Queyrat and Treatment with Imiquimod 5% Cream: A Case Report

“…OCT has previously been used to assess bullous skin diseases, skin diseases caused by mites, inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and contact dermatitis, and may also be used in the diagnosis of common non-melanoma skin cancers, i.e. actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma and SCC, as well as melanocytic naevi and malignant melanoma [6,9,10,11,12,13]. Furthermore, this technique can be used to evaluate the response of the skin to specific treatments [10,11,14,15].…”