Hybrid multiphoton multimodal tomography of in vivo human skin

Abstract

Clinical multiphoton tomography based on femtosecond near infrared laser pulses for in vivo high-resolution skin imaging has been employed to thousands of volunteers and patients. Two-photon cellular autofluorescence and second harmonic generation of collagen can be detected with single-photon sensitivity and submicron spatial resolution. Also in vivo clinical CARS has been realized to image intratissue lipids and water. Novel developments focus on multimodal hybrid imaging to generate optical tissue biopsies with subcellular resolution, deep-tissue information, and chemical fingerprints. Wide-field imaging tools such as dermoscopes, optical coherence tomographs as well as ultrasound and photoacoustic devices can be integrated. The hybrid tomographs have the potential to trace cosmetics and pharmaceutical components such as sunscreen nanoparticles and anti-aging products in humans. Skin cancer such as malignant melanoma and basal cell carcinoma as well as dermatitis can be detected at an early stage and the efficiency of the treatment can be monitored. These novel hybrid multimodal multiphoton tomographs may become important biopsy-free and label-free imaging tools in personalized medicine, pharmacy, biotechnology as well as cosmetic research.