Magnetic resonance imaging of the skin

Abstract

A thorough examination of the skin is essential to screen various diseases accurately, evaluate the effectiveness of topically applied drugs and assess the results of dermatological surgeries such as skin grafts. The assessment of skin properties is also crucial in the cosmetics industry, where it is important to evaluate the effects skin care products have on these properties. The simplest and most widely used method of skin evaluation, the 'naked eye' assessment, enables researchers to assess only the skin surface and involves a large amount of inter-observer variability. Thanks to a great progress that has been made in physics, electronics and computer engineering in recent years, sophisticated imaging methods are increasingly available in day-to-day studies. The aim of this review was to present one of these techniques, namely the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to discuss its possible use in skin examination and analysis. We present basic principles of MRI, as well as several interesting applications in the field of dermatology, and discuss the advantages and limitations of this method.

3D optical coherence tomography for clinical diagnosis of nonmelanoma skin cancers

“…However, the latter is [12,13] Screening versus differentiation abilities. The resolution is described as the smallest differentiable or detectable features laterally and in depth.…”

“…Micro magnetic resonance imaging (µMRI), which has increased resolution with respect to full body scanners, is an expensive method with good underlying tissue contrast and no penetration problems. However, µMRI resolution is in the 80 µm range at best [12,13], and therefore approximately two orders of magnitude worse than histology. This limits the utility of µMRI in cellular-level investigation of tissue, which is required for early detection of cancer and for differentiation between diseases.…”

“…In most biological tissues, including the skin, the major limiting factor of OCT is its reduced penetration depth due to strong scattering and absorption of light. However, the imaging depth of around Adapted from [12,20].…”

Skin Imaging in Aesthetic Medicine

“…These less aggressive methods usually require multiple treatments and show gradual, subtle improvement. Although "naked eye" assessment and color photography of the skin remain important for skin examination and documenting changes before and after aesthetic procedures, they do not highlight individual chromophores or provide quantitative information and are prone to significant interobserver variability [4]. Skin imaging devices that visualize and display information on epidermal and dermal chromophores, skin texture, and wrinkles have emerged as valuable tools for skin analysis in aesthetic medicine [5].…”

Full-Field Optical Coherence Tomography: A New Technology for 3D High-Resolution Skin Imaging

“…Therefore the practitioner does not have access to skin structure details at the cellular level. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is another technique proving similar resolution, of the order of 100 µm [5]. This technique relies on the nuclear magnetic resonance phenomenon, and typically has similar applications to ultrasound scanning.…”