High-Resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) for skin imaging

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging imaging modality based on low-coherence light interferometry. Owing to its noninvasive and high-resolution properties, OCT has attracted extensive research interests since its invention in the early 1990s. Currently, it has not only been established as a routine clinical tool for ophthalmic imaging but also been utilized for imaging of some other human tissues, e.g. skin, gastrointestinal tract, and cardiovascular. This chapter first gives a brief review of the high-resolution optical coherence tomography (HR-OCT) systems that have been developed for skin imaging and then presents some of the typical applications in normal skin morphology imaging, skin disease diagnosis in clinical practice, and skin imaging-related experimental characterization in laboratory research. Finally, the various factors limiting the wide applications of OCT in dermatology are also discussed.