Fast Track Diagnosis of Skin Cancer by Advanced Imaging

Aim of study: To collect data for a new image-guided diagnostic algoritm, enabling the investigators to differentiate more precisely between benign and malignant pigmented tumours at the bedside. This study will include 60 patients with four different pigmented tumours: seborrheic keratosis (n=15), dermal nevi (n=15), pigmented basal cell carcinomas (n=15), and malignant melanomas (n=15), these four types of tumours are depicted in Fig.1, and all lesions will be scanned by four imaging technologies, recruiting patients from Sept 2019 to May 2020. In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (CM) will be used to diagnose pigmented tumours at a cellular level and provide micromorphological information5;6. Flourescent CM will be applied to enhance contrast in surrounding tissue/tumours. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), doppler high-frequency ultrasound (HIFU) and photoacustic imaging (also termed MSOT, multispectral optoacustic tomography) will be used to measure tumour thickness, to delineate tumours and analyze blood flow in blood vessels. Potential diagnostic features from each lesion type will be tested. Diagnostic accuracy will be statistically evaluated by comparison to gold standard histopathology