Line-scan chromatic confocal microscopy for multi-depth imaging of skin tissue using deconvolution

In this paper, we present a line-scan chromatic confocal microscopy for rapid, multi-depth imaging of non-transparent skin tissue. Leveraging spectral dispersion encoding, this system enables the simultaneous acquisition of reflectance data across a depth range exceeding 180 $\mu$ m in skin tissue, effectively eliminating mechanical axial scanning and minimizing associated artifacts. With a lateral effective field of view (FOV) of 13.2 mm, the system provides a wide-field perspective for comprehensive tissue analysis. Furthermore, to overcome the typical limitations of lateral resolution in line-scan systems, we employ pre-calibrated deconvolution using an empirically determined point spread function obtained with a micro-spot mirror. We demonstrate deep-tissue tomography with ex vivo bovine skin tissue, achieving an increase in resolution from 45.25 lp/mm to 50.79 lp/mm post-deconvolution, as quantified using a USAF 1951 target. These results highlight the potential of line-scan chromatic confocal microscopy with pre-calibrated deconvolution as a powerful platform for multi-depth biomedical imaging applications requiring enhanced lateral resolution and contrast.