Skin Cancers and Diseases Diagnosed Optically

A noninvasive real-time optical system enables doctors to perform biopsies of living tissue without cutting into the skin.

The VivaScope 1500 multilaser imaging system includes three lasers of different wavelengths (488 nm, 658 nm, and 785 nm) that can be used to enhance image contrast using a fluorophore applied to the skin. It is then imaged with a laser that has a corresponding wavelength that excites the fluorophore, causing it to emit fluorescence. With the specialized filter in place, the fluorescent signal is the only signal detected. The system can be used a wide variety of research applications including measuring stratum corneum thickness and pore and cell sizes.


The system offers clinicians and researchers a noninvasive technology that offers living, accurate diagnosis of skin diseases through the direct visualization at the cellular level. Dermatologic applications include diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and benign lesions and dermatoses. The system can also be used to evaluate healing processes and to monitor therapeutic outcomes of skin cancer treatments and pharmaceuticals and cosmeceuticals.

Benefits of the system include quasi-histologic cellular imaging comparable to histopathology; noninvasive, repeatable imaging; no tissue damage; skin tumor diagnosis with high sensitivity and specificity; real-time visualization of blood flow and inflammatory processes; therapeutic monitoring of the same area of skin over time; and quantitative data for skin layer thickness and cell sizes. The VivaScope 1500 imaging system is a product of Caliber Imaging & Diagnostics (Caliber ID, Rochester, NY, USA; www.caliberid.com), and has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“The VivaScope 1500 Multilaser system gives researchers a powerful new tool for performing cellular level analysis painlessly and noninvasively,” said L. Michael Hone, CEO of Caliber ID. “The inclusion of lasers at three different wavelengths within a single system offers an unprecedented level of flexibility to researchers studying a variety of products, drugs, and diseases. We believe this is an extremely important addition to our existing range of VivaScope devices.”

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