Background Many factors relate to enlargement and visibility of facial pores. However, how enlargement relates to modification of the skin structure is still poorly analysed. Therefore, our aim was to characterise the visible features and the micro‐environment of facial pores. Materials and Methods We recruited 160 women, half of them with normal‐size facial pores, the other half presenting enlarged pores. We analysed their right cheek using standardised photography, in vivo reflectance microscopy and optical coherence tomography. Results If the area of pores is indeed the most differentiating visible characteristic, enlarged facial pores are also denser and more contrasted ...

Use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) adds an assessment of thrombus burden remaining on stents after PCI for acute coronary syndromes. Potential variations in stent‐related thrombus burden can be documented by OCT as a function of peri‐procedural pharmacology supporting the use of OCT in future hypothesis testing. Bivalirudin remains a reliable and expensive alternative to heparin in cases of HIT or patients at high bleeding risk during transfemoral PCI.

Aim: to assess the influence of thyroid hormones status and coexistence of autoimmune thyroiditis on optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) results in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Methods: In the prospective, observational study (n=175) we analyzed the impact of thyroid hormones on OCT results and the differences between the matched groups of children with T1D (n=84; age=13,14+/-3,6; diabetes duration=5,99+/-3,3 years) and the children with T1D and autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) (n=20; age=13,94+/-3,6; diabetes duration=6,7+/-4 years). We analyzed ...

Background and objectives: Striae distensae (SD) is a challenging skin condition. Striae alba (SA) represents the chronic late atrophic stage of SD. Fractional laser technology is among the modalities used for treating SD. Lately, fractional microneedling radiofrequency (FMR) is gaining increased popularity in treating SD. The aim of our study was to assess and compare the efficacy of FMR and fractional Er:YAG laser in the treatment of SA. Study design/materials and methods: Twenty female patients were enrolled in the study fulfilling all inclusion and exclusion criteria. On a randomly selected half side of the body, the patients were ...

Letter to the editor.

Background and objectives: Melasma may be related to aberrant blood vessels, but there has been no report on the utility of dynamic optical coherence tomography (D-OCT) in studying vessel characteristics in melasma. We studied the characteristics of cutaneous blood vessels in melasma and the effects of oral tranexamic acid (TXA) with D-OCT. Study design/materials and methods: Six patients with moderate to severe melasma had a D-OCT scanning of the areas on the face affected by melasma and not affected by it. Three of them had scans within 3 months after starting oral TXA and at a follow-up visit. Blood ...

It is possible to enhance topical drug delivery by pretreatment of the skin with ablative fractional lasers (AFLs). However, the parameters to use for a given AFL to achieve the desired depth of ablation or the desired therapeutic or cosmetic outcome are hard to predict. This leaves open the real possibility of overapplication or underapplication of laser energy to the skin. In this study, we developed a numerical model consisting of a Monte Carlo radiative transfer (MCRT) code coupled to a heat transfer and tissue damage algorithm. The simulation is designed to predict the depth effects of AFL on the ...

The inability of current catheter ablation procedures to accurately monitor lesion formation limits their safety and efficacy. An advanced fully integrated radiofrequency (RF)/optical coherence tomography (OCT) ablation catheter is developed, which enables real‐time monitoring during ablation. An OCT fiber array is especially designed, developed and integrated into an off‐the‐shelf irrigated RF ablation catheter. In‐vitro experimental studies performed on poultry and ovine hearts demonstrate the ability of the integrated RF/OCT system to provide information on the quality and orientation of catheter/wall contact. Experimental results show that adipose tissue can be accurately identified from normal ...

The relatively fast translation of optical coherence tomography (OCT) from an optical measurement technology to a standard of care in ophthalmology was driven by its ability to address clear unmet diagnostic needs. OCT's further technological developments have expanded its clinical use by extending the imaging range (wider, deeper) and the imaging contrast (from morphology to blood flow). The translation of technical advances into clinical value is an ongoing process involving both the potential substitution of established diagnostics (such as fundus angiography) and the identification of novel feature‐disease correlations. This review looks into the development, the status and the ...

Objective The objective was to assess the 2‐year clinical performance of three drug‐eluting stents in all‐comer patients with severely calcified coronary lesions. Background Severe lesion calcification increases cardiovascular event risk after coronary stenting, but there is a lack of data on the clinical outcome of all‐comers with severely calcified lesions who were treated with more recently introduced drug‐eluting stents. Methods The BIO‐RESORT trial ( clinicaltrials.gov : NCT01674803 ) randomly assigned 3,514 all‐comer patients to biodegradable polymer Synergy everolimus‐eluting stents (EES) or Orsiro sirolimus‐eluting stents (SES), versus durable polymer Resolute Integrity zotarolimus‐eluting ...

Purpose: Recent developments in optical coherence tomography (OCT) technology enable direct enface visualisation of retinal nerve fibre bundle (RNFB) loss in glaucoma. However, the optimum depth at which to visualise RNFBs across the retina is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the range of depths and optimum depth at which RNFBs can be visualised across the retina in healthy eyes. Methods: The central ± 25° retina of 10 healthy eyes from 10 people aged 57-75 years (median 68.5 years) were imaged with spectral domain OCT. Slab images of maximum axial resolution (4 μm) containing depth-resolved attenuation coefficients were extracted from 0 ...

Background: Basal cell carcinoma, seborrheic keratosis, and nevus are common skin conditions. Though most of the skin diseases can be distinguished from each other by physician's naked eyes, the diagnostic accuracy is not 100%. The accurate diagnosis and assessment of three diseases make a big difference on the clinical management. Nowadays, biopsy is still the gold standard for diagnosis even it is invasive, time-consuming, and painful. Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography is an emerging technology that can produce in situ, cellular-resolution, real-time, continuous, 3D images in a noninvasive way. Materials and methods: In our study, four basal cell carcinoma patients ...

Purpose To report the use of flying baby spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD‐OCT) on infants with advanced retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), where clinical findings alone failed to differentiate between retinoschisis and retinal detachment. Methods Prospective, non‐interventional case‐series study of three premature infants with advanced ROP of clinically uncertain stage, after examination by indirect ophthalmoscopy. To confirm the diagnosis, table‐mounted SD‐OCT retinal imaging was performed with the infant held in the flying baby position under topical ocular anaesthesia only. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD‐OCT) findings were correlated with clinical examination and ultra‐widefield ...

Background Multi‐contrast Jones matrix optical coherence tomography (JM‐OCT) can provide quantitative depth‐resolved local optical properties by improving the measurement algorithm. Materials and methods We examined the relationship between depth‐resolved local optical properties of eye‐corner skin measured by JM‐OCT and corresponding wrinkle morphology of aged women (n = 21; age range, 71.7 ± 1.7 years). Wrinkle morphology was analyzed by measuring the surface topography of three‐dimensional replicas. The same regions were measured three‐dimensionally by JM‐OCT, and the local optical properties at each depth were computed. Results Birefringence (BR) and mean wrinkle depth ...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Background: Multi-contrast Jones matrix optical coherence tomography (JM-OCT) can provide quantitative depth-resolved local optical properties by improving the measurement algorithm. Materials and methods: We examined the relationship between depth-resolved local optical properties of eye-corner skin measured by JM-OCT and corresponding wrinkle morphology of aged women (n = 21; age range, 71.7 ± 1.7 years). Wrinkle morphology was analyzed by measuring the surface topography of three-dimensional replicas. The same regions were measured three-dimensionally by JM-OCT, and the local optical properties at each depth were computed. Results: Birefringence (BR) and mean wrinkle depth correlated significantly at a depth of 88.2-138.6 ...

Background and purpose Retinal pathological changes may precede or accompany the deterioration of brain tissue in Parkinson's disease (PD). The purpose of this meta‐analysis was to assess the usefulness of optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurements as potential imaging biomarkers for Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases for observational studies (published prior to May 30th, 2020) comparing the OCT measurements between Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and healthy controls (HC). Our main endpoints were peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness, macular ganglion cell complex (mGCC) thickness, macular ...

Background Non‐invasive diagnostic techniques in dermatology gained increasing popularity in the last decade. Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) are meanwhile established in research and clinical routine. While OCT is mainly indicated for detecting non‐melanoma skin cancer, RCM has proven its usefulness additionally in distinguishing melanocytic lesions. Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC‐OCT) is an emerging tool combining the principles of both above‐mentioned methods. Methods Healthy skin at different body sites and exemplary skin lesions (basal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, actinic keratosis) were examined using dermoscopy, RCM, OCT and LC‐OCT. Standard ...

Purpose Several studies found reduced retinal thickness on optical coherence tomography (OCT) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), even in preclinical stages, labelling this technique of interest as biomarker. In this study, we examine retinal thickness changes in preclinical AD, as defined by cognitively normal individuals with amyloid‐beta (Aβ) on positron emission tomography (PET). Methods For this monocentre study, 145 cognitively healthy monozygotic twins aged ≥ 60 were included from the Netherlands Twin Register taking part in the EMIF‐AD PreclinAD study. At baseline, participants underwent [ 18 F] flutemetamol PET that was visually rated for cortical Aβ. Binding potential was calculated ...

We present a novel all‐fiber probe with 710‐μm outside diameter for combined optical coherence tomography and pH detection. In cancer surgery, a significant challenge is how to completely remove the malignant tumor without cutting too much normal tissue. The difference between cancer tissue and normal tissue not only lies in morphology and structure but also in tissue pH, where malignant tissue has a lower pH. This dual‐modality probe combined optical coherence tomography and pH detection of biological tissue, is expected to determine whether the tissue is cancerous quickly and accuporcine ely. The probe utilizes a typical three ...

Background Skin tags are common and mostly benign, but occasionally contain skin cancers. This study analysed skin tags by combining three advanced optical imaging technologies: reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM), optical coherence tomography (OCT) and multispectral optoacoustic imaging (MSOT) supplemented by dermoscopy Materials and methods A prospective clinical study recruiting patients with skin tags from a university hospital clinic over a 2‐week period. OCT, RCM and MSOT imaging were performed prior to excisional biopsies. Image features such as pigmentation, cell types and skin architecture, angiographic information demonstrating vascular pattern were captured, analysed, and compared to melanin and haemoglobin content in ...

Objectives We examined the incidence of side branch (SB) compromise after provisional stenting of calcified bifurcation lesions treated with rotational atherectomy (RA) or cutting balloon angioplasty (CBA) and the utility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect functionally significant SB stenoses. Background The comparative impact of RA versus CBA on SB compromise and functional significance remains poorly characterized. Methods Seventy‐one consecutive patients with 71 calcified bifurcation lesions with angiographically intermediate SB stenoses were randomized to RA (n = 35) or CBA (n = 36). The primary endpoint was SB compromise defined as SB diameter stenosis ≥70%, SB dissection or thrombolysis in ...

Background The diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis should be confirmed by skin patch‐tests. Distinguishing between irritant and allergic reactions is sometimes difficult. Objectives To analyse the in‐vivo morphological changes in patch test reactions compared to healthy skin, and to detect subclinical changes in doubtful reactions using OCT. To develop an OCT‐based algorithm to support patch‐test grading. Methods 129 skin patch‐test areas were scanned with OCT evaluating following features: architectural and vascular morphology, epidermal thickness, optical attenuation coefficient (AC) and blood flow at 0.1, 0.2 and 0.35 mm depth. Results Most common OCT ...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging shows a significant potential in clinical routines due to its noninvasive property. However, the quality of OCT images is generally limited by inherent speckle noise of OCT imaging and low sampling rate. To obtain high signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and high‐resolution (HR) OCT images within a short scanning time, we presented a learning‐based method to recover high‐quality OCT images from noisy and low‐resolution OCT images. We proposed a semi‐supervised learning approach named N2NSR‐OCT, to generate denoised and super‐resolved OCT images simultaneously using up‐ and down‐sampling networks ...