Skin Imaging to Inform Laser Treatments

All 55 subjects enrolled in the study completed the initial study procedures, but due to the pandemic and the prolonged period where we were unable to follow up patients, we were not able to complete the aims for this protocol.

The purpose of this study is to obtain information (such as lesion depth, depth of the most superficial part of the lesion, and the size and density of blood vessels) with the assistance of an imaging device, and use this information to assist in selection of laser settings for the treatment of skin conditions. The imaging modality is called Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Multiple laser modalities will be used, including intense pulsed light lasers (BroadBand Light, Profractional Sciton), pulsed dye lasers (Vbeam Perfecta, Candela), long-pulse 755nm lasers (GentleLASE, Candela), Sciton long-pulse 1064nm lasers, and non-ablative and ablative fractional resurfacing lasers (Profractional, Sciton). All of the lasers noted above are the only ones that will be used in this study. These lasers have 510k clearance and are being used as per their approved indications in this study. The choice of laser type is based on the skin lesion and is recommended by the physician, and the subjects who are going to enroll in this study will already be planned to undergo laser treatment as a standard of care for their condition. This is a pilot study that will explore the utility of skin imaging in guiding the laser treatment of skin lesions.

The purpose of this research is to assist laser treatment of skin conditions by imaging the skin to obtain information about lesional skin. This is a pilot study that will explore the utility of skin imaging in guiding the laser treatment of skin lesions. This study will utilize Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Data acquisition of the skin will guide laser treatment by providing information on skin lesion characteristics. There have been shown to be many applications for OCT. This imaging modality has been used to examine normal skin, burn scars, hemangiomas, nevus flammeus, fibrosarcomas, rosacea, and telangiectasias. Skin conditions to be studied include vascular lesions, scars, and inflammatory conditions. Normal and lesional skin will be assessed. Currently, laser settings are selected without the assistance of imaging. Imaging with OCT provides more information about the characteristics of the skin lesion (such as lesion depth, depth of the most superficial part of the lesion, and the size and density of blood vessels), which could allow for more informed selection of laser settings to treat individual skin lesions. OCT has been used to examine laser treatments as well, but the proposed protocol would include the use of OCT to examine the stated skin lesions above before and after laser treatment in order to compare to historical/prospective controls that did not undergo OCT imaging. The goal of this study is to optimize laser treatment with the assistance of OCT and guide future laser treatments. OCT is an imaging modality that uses light to image turbid media such as living tissues, and has been successfully used to generate high resolution (~10 micron) cross-sectional images of tissue microstructure in the human retina, skin, gastrointestinal tract, and genitourinary tract. OCT systems are now commercially available for ophthalmic and dermatologic use, and there are several clinical reports on the use of OCT in the vascular system and aero digestive tract, Ophthalmology, Pleural disorder, Neural tissue, Aneurysm healing, and Oral Pathology. This device focuses low power non-laser broad band infrared light onto tissue and does not involve input of significant amounts of energy into the subject; no temperature rise occurs. Because the wavelength of light used for imaging does not have adverse tissue effects, there is no risk. Imaging with OCT provides information about the characteristics of the skin lesion (such as lesion depth, depth of the most superficial part of the lesion, and the size and density of blood vessels). OCT poses no known risks to the patients. A multitude of studies have been conducted that validate the utility of OCT in imaging many types of skin lesions. Vascular lesions formulate a good portion of skin diseases studied by OCT, which includes rosacea, port-wine stain, hemangiomas, fibrosarcomas, cherry angiomas, and telangiectasias. Other studies have examined imaging of burn scars, the micro-circulation of the skin, and vascular changes with topical medical application. In all of these studies, OCT imaging aided treatment as well as provided a method to assess treatment outcome. For port-wine stains, OCT has provided information such as vessel diameter and depth, which was discovered to be quite variable in port-wine stains, indicating that tailored laser treatments are likely to improve result. Byers et al. noted that OCT was a robust and non-invasive method for observing longitudinal dynamics of the subcutaneous microcirculation of tumors. Telangiectasias are a prominent feature of rosacea, and OCT has elucidated information about their treatment with intense-pulsed light to simply examine the effect of the treatment on the targeted lesions.

A prospective study on the impact of Optical Coherence Tomography in laser treatment of vascular skin conditions.

For the control group, the laser surgeon would be unaware of OCT measurements of patients in the control group and would need to rely on his/her experience and intuition to determine the laser settings to treat the patient. For the experimental group, the laser surgeon will be exposed to the OCT measurements.

For the experimental group, the laser surgeon will be exposed to the OCT measurements and will select laser settings and determine treatment parameters based on the measurements.

For the control group, the laser surgeon will not be exposed to the OCT measurements and will select laser settings and determine treatment parameters based on standard of care, intuition, and experience.

Skin imaging to determine vascular characteristics such as plexus depth, vessel diameter, and vessel density.

Primary outcome variable includes assessment of change in photographed lesion. Two board-certified dermatologists will grade the degree of change of the photographed lesion in quartiles (no change or darkening=0-25, mild lightening=26-50, good lightening=51-75, excellent lightening=76-95, complete resolution=96-100).

Inclusion Criteria Subjects must meet the following inclusion criteria: Ability to understand and carry out subject instructions or be represented by a legally authorized guardian or representative. Ages 4 and older. Patients younger than 4 may have difficulty cooperating with the OCT measurements because each measurement requires the patient to remain still for approximately 30 seconds. Seeks and is scheduled for laser treatment of a skin lesion. Exclusion Criteria Any of the following will exclude participation in the study: Inability to understand and/or carry out subject instructions.

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