Abstract

The confocal scanning microscope (CSM) is becoming a powerful imaging modality in dermatology and otolaryngology, because of its optical sectioning capability which allows us to noninvasively image thin sections of in vivo tissue with high resolution and contrast. The CSM provides a window into living tissue for basic and clinical research; it potentially offers doctors an imaging diagnostic which operates in real-time and is entirely noninvasive compared to conventional biopsy-based histopathology [Pierard, 1993]. High-resolution imaging of skin in vivo has been achieved with a white light tandem scanning confocal microscope [New et al., 1991; Corcuff and Leveque, 1993; Corcuff et al., 1993; Bertrand and Corcuff, 1994] and our confocal scanning laser microscope (CSLM) [Rajadhyaksha et al., 1995]. We recently optimized our CSLM for improved resolution and contrast. Our clinical imaging-and-analyses studies of the past year include (i) fifty pathologic human skin lesions, (ii) effects of ultraviolet-B irradiation on the skin, and (iii) normal and pathologic oral cavity tissue. In this paper, we present optimum CSLM parameters for imaging living skin and oral tissue, and the results of our clinical imaging work.

© 1997 Optical Society of America