Game Change: New Handheld Tissue Scanner Can See Below Surface of Skin in Psoriasis

A new handheld tissue scanner allows dermatologists to look below the surface of skin in psoriasis patients and can provide clinically relevant information, such as the structure of skin layers and blood vessels, without the need for contrast agents or radiation exposure.

A team of researchers from Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) recently introduced the scanner in Nature Biomedical Engineering, and in the future it may also play a role in the diagnosis, understanding and imaging of skin cancer or diabetes.

Currently, physicians evaluate the severity of the disease based on visual assessment of features of the skin surface, such as redness or thickness of the flaking skin. "Unfortunately, these standards miss all parameters that lie below the surface of the skin, and may be subjective," says study author Dr. Juan Aguirre, the group leader at the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI) at the Helmholtz Zentrum München. "Knowing the structure of the skin and vessels before treatment can provide the physician with useful information."

The researchers developed a new technique called RSOM. It involves a weak laser pulse that excites the tissue of interest, which then absorbs energy and heats up minimally. This causes momentary tissue expansion, which generates ultrasound waves. These ultrasound signals are then measures and this information is used to reconstruct a high resolution image of what lies under the skin.

In the new study, the scientists demonstrated RSOM's performance by examining cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue from psoriasis patients. RSOM allowed them to determine several characteristics of psoriasis and inflammation, including skin thickness, capillary density, number of vessels, and total blood volume in the skin. They compiled these to define a novel clinical index for assessing psoriasis severity that may be superior to the current clinical standard because the new index also takes into account characteristics below the skin surface.

The researchers plan to use the same imaging method to assess other diseases such as skin cancer or diabetes in the future. Patients with diabetes often suffer from damaged blood vessels that, if detected early enough, may allow earlier treatment and therefore greater efficacy.

"This technology, which is easy to use and does not involve any radiation exposure or contrast agent, is allowing us to acquire the first new insights into the disease mechanisms. It also facilitates treatment decisions for the physicians," explains Prof. Dr. Vasilis Ntziachristos, Director of the IBMI at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and Chair of Biological Imaging at the Technical University of Munich.

PHOTO CAPTION:

A newly developed tissue scanner allows looking under the skin of psoriasis patients.

Credit: Helmholtz Zentrum München