Three-dimensional imaging and reconstruction of skin lesions

An optical instrument called a "nevoscope" is used to image skin lesions by transillumination with visible light. The lesion is transilluminated by a fiber-optic annular ring light source that directs light into the skin area surrounding the lesion, forming a virtual source just beneath the lesion. Mirrors uniformly spaced around the lesion and tilted at various angles provide orthographic projections of the skin lesion. Additional views are obtained by rotating the mirror assembly. These multiple views are used in a direct three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the lesion using a filtered backprojection method. In this paper, we discuss the methodology of direct 3D reconstruction from 2D views of a transilluminated skin lesion as obtained using the new prototype nevoscope. We present the results of direct 3D reconstruction of a simulated phantom and a test object imaged using the nevoscope. In addition, a skin lesion was scanned in situ using the new prototype nevoscope. Results of the reconstruction of this lesion are also presented.