Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026
In Vivo Confocal Microscopy: A Standard Operating Procedure for the Detection of Demodex Mites at the Eyelid Margin
Published on: July 3, 2025
High-definition optical coherence tomography for the in vivo detection of demodex mites
T Maier1, E Sattler, M Braun-Falco
1Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany. Tanja.Maier@med.uni-muenchen.de
Background:
Demodex mites are involved in different skin diseases and are commonly detected by skin scrape tests or superficial biopsies. A new high-definition optical coherence tomography (HD-OCT) with high lateral and axial resolution in a horizontal (en-face) and vertical (slice) imaging mode might offer the possibility of noninvasive and fast in vivo examination of demodex mites.
Methods:
Twenty patients with demodex-related skin diseases and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were examined by HD-OCT. Mites per follicle and follicles per field of view were counted and compared to skin scrape tests.
Results:
HD-OCT images depicted mites in the en-face mode as bright round dots in groups of 3-5 mites per hair follicle. In the patients with demodex-related disease, a mean number of 3.4 mites per follicle were detected with a mean number of 2.9 infested follicles per area of view compared to a mean of 0.6 mites in 0.4 infested follicles in the controls. The skin scrape tests were negative in 21% of the patients.
Conclusion:
The innovative HD-OCT enables fast and noninvasive in vivo recognition of demodex mites and might become a useful tool in the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of demodex-related skin diseases.
