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Separating melanin from hemodynamics in nevi using multimode hyperspectral dermoscopy and spatial frequency domain
Fartash Vasefi1, Nicholas MacKinnon1, Rolf Saager2
1Spectral Molecular Imaging Inc., 13412 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 250, Sherman Oaks, California 91423, United States.
Journal of Biomedical Optics
|November 11, 2016
Summary
Accurately imaging melanin and hemoglobin in skin is crucial for diagnosing pigmented lesions. A new hyperspectral dermoscope, SkinSpect™, improves this imaging by correcting for melanin absorption, aiding in distinguishing benign from malignant growths.
Area of Science:
- Dermatology
- Biomedical Optics
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Accurate assessment of melanocytic proliferations requires distinguishing melanin and vasculature (hemoglobin).
- Measuring melanin and hemoglobin distribution at various depths is vital for classifying pigmented skin lesions.
- Current methods face challenges in differentiating these chromophores, impacting diagnostic accuracy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a multimode hyperspectral dermoscope (SkinSpect™) for enhanced imaging of melanin and hemoglobin in skin.
- To improve the accuracy of quantifying melanin and hemoglobin distribution, particularly in pigmented lesions.
- To assess the performance of SkinSpect™ by comparing its measurements with established techniques.
Main Methods:
- Development of a novel multimode hyperspectral dermoscope (SkinSpect™) incorporating hyperspectral and polarization-sensitive measurements.
- Implementation of a correction algorithm to account for melanin absorption's effect on hemoglobin measurements.
- In vivo evaluation of 20 human subjects with pigmented nevi, comparing SkinSpect™ data with spatial frequency domain spectroscopy (SFDS).
Main Results:
- SkinSpect™ demonstrated improved accuracy in imaging melanin and hemoglobin distribution.
- Measurements confirmed a low correlation between hemoglobin concentration and melanin concentration across both SFDS (R=0.13) and SkinSpect™ (R=0.07) systems.
- The developed correction method enhances the reliability of hemoglobin measurements in the presence of melanin.
Conclusions:
- SkinSpect™ offers a more accurate method for in vivo imaging and quantification of melanin and hemoglobin in skin.
- The device aids in differentiating between benign and malignant pigmented lesions by providing precise chromophore distribution data.
- This technology has the potential to significantly improve the diagnostic capabilities in dermatological assessments of pigmented skin conditions.
