Laser Speckle Imaging Shows Promise for Objective Rosacea Assessment: Analysis

Laser speckle imaging (LSI) may offer an objective, noninvasive method for assessing rosacea severity while improving differentiation from other inflammatory facial dermatoses, according to findings published in Archives of Dermatological Research.

Study authors enrolled 37 patients with rosacea and 38 patients with other facial dermatoses. Investigators compared facial imaging obtained with VISIA and LSI systems while correlating mean perfusion units (mPU) and VISIA Red Area Score (VRAS) with standardized clinical assessments, including the Patient Self-Assessment (PSA), Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA), Clinical Erythema Assessment (CEA), and Global Flushing Severity Score (GFSS).

According to the data, LSI-derived mPU demonstrated a significant association with VRAS (β = 0.054; R² = 0.195; P < 0.05), but mPU showed stronger correlations than VRAS with all clinical severity measures (P < 0.05). Among rosacea subtypes, patients with erythematotelangiectatic rosacea had significantly higher mPU values than those with sensitive skin syndrome (P < 0.05).

Diagnostic accuracy improved progressively with each assessment (P < 0.001) and LSI enhanced clinician ability to distinguish rosacea from sensitive skin syndrome.

"LSI demonstrates clinically meaningful correlations with rosacea severity metrics and improves differentiation between rosacea and other inflammatory facial dermatoses, showing the potential as an objective assessment tool in rosacea management," the authors wrote in the abstract.

Source

Luo H, et al.  Archives of Dermatological Research. 2026;318:236. Published July 4, 2026. Doi:10.1007/s00403-026-04723-3