ABSTRACT
Noninvasive imaging techniques are of great value in all fields of medical diagnostics. Because the skin is directly accessible, the established and most common method in dermatology for the identification of suspicious skin lesions and evaluation of skin diseases is the direct inspection by the dermatologist. However, different techniques such as high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS), optical coherence tomography (OCT), high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI), confocal laser scanning microscopy, and others are available for noninvasive imaging of skin over depth to support the diagnostics. Imaging systems make use of different kinds of rays, waves, and physical phenomena (light, ultrasound, electromagnetic waves, nuclear magnetic resonance, etc.) to image tissue structures. Video-dermatoscopy (VD) and epiluminescence microscopy (ELM) are technical instruments to improve conventional dermatoscopy by optically obtaining information from the skin surface and uppermost skin layers.
