In Vivo Visualization and Quantification of Dermal Nevus Microvasculature Using Super-Resolution Ultrasound of...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Ultrasound Technology
• Dermatology

Background:

• Distinguishing melanoma from benign nevi is a diagnostic challenge.
• Vascular features offer insights beyond surface morphology.
• Super-resolution ultrasound using the erythrocytes (SURE) is a novel contrast-free imaging technique.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of SURE for in vivo visualization.
• To quantitatively assess dermal microvasculature in benign nevi.
• To explore SURE's potential in melanocytic lesion analysis.

Main Methods:

• Eleven participants with 35 benign dermal nevi were included.
• Lesions underwent clinical, dermoscopic, conventional ultrasound, and SURE imaging.
• SURE reconstructions were analyzed for microvascular morphology, vessel diameter, and flow velocity.

Main Results:

• SURE provided high-quality reconstructions for all acquisitions.
• Dermal microvascular networks were visualized in all lesions.
• Mean vessel diameter was 85.0 ± 20.2 µm; median flow velocity was 1.80 mm/s.

Conclusions:

• SURE enables contrast-free visualization and quantification of dermal microvasculature in benign nevi.
• Findings support SURE's feasibility for microvascular mapping of melanocytic lesions.
• Future studies should include malignant lesions and histopathological validation.