ABSTRACT
There have also been significant strides made in clinical RCM instrumentation. The current generation of commercially available RCM instruments are about the size of small dental X-ray machines and can be readily applied to most anatomic sites. With the use of a tissue ring, small areas of the skin can be automatically imaged in a systemic fashion with resulting
composite optical sections (mosaics) at various depths within the skin. A handheld device is available for real-time interrogation of larger areas of skin by simply gliding the instrument across the skin surface. Currently, commercially available systems typically utilize near-infrared laser light with resulting fairly consistent imaging down to the papillary dermis, but other light sources are available that have the potential to enhance resolution in the epidermis.
