In vivo assessment of human burn scars through automated quantification of vascularity using optical coherence tomography

Yih Miin Liew; Robert A. McLaughlin; Peijun Gong; Fiona M. Wood M.D.; David D. Sampson

doi:10.1117/1.JBO.18.6.061213

22 November 2012 In vivo assessment of human burn scars through automated quantification of vascularity using optical coherence tomography

Yih Miin Liew, Robert A. McLaughlin, Peijun Gong, Fiona M. Wood M.D., David D. Sampson

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Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 18, Issue 6, 061213 (November 2012). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.18.6.061213

Abstract

In scars arising from burns, objective assessment of vascularity is important in the early identification of pathological scarring, and in the assessment of progression and treatment response. We demonstrate the first clinical assessment and automated quantification of vascularity in cutaneous burn scars of human patients in vivo that uses optical coherence tomography (OCT). Scar microvasculature was delineated in three-dimensional OCT images using speckle decorrelation. The diameter and area density of blood vessels were automatically quantified. A substantial increase was observed in the measured density of vasculature in hypertrophic scar tissues (38%) when compared against normal, unscarred skin (22%). A proliferation of larger vessels (diameter≥100 μm) was revealed in hypertrophic scarring, which was absent from normal scars and normal skin over the investigated physical depth range of 600 μm. This study establishes the feasibility of this methodology as a means of clinical monitoring of scar progression.

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Yih Miin Liew, Robert A. McLaughlin, Peijun Gong, Fiona M. Wood M.D., and David D. Sampson "In vivo assessment of human burn scars through automated quantification of vascularity using optical coherence tomography," Journal of Biomedical Optics 18(6), 061213 (22 November 2012). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.18.6.061213

Published: 22 November 2012

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