An integrated skin marking tool for use with optical coherence tomography (OCT)

摘要

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been shown to provide clinically valuable images that can aid in the assessment of the pre-surgical margin in basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The accuracy and speed with which these images can be used to help delineate margins in the clinic are currently constrained by the need to suspend imaging whilst a pen is used to mark the skin. This constraint has been circumvented here by the design of a trigger-activated ink-loaded nib integrated with the OCT probe. The adapted OCT probe enables a mark to be placed on the skin precisely where a region of interest can be seen in the OCT images, accurately and reproducibly. The adapted probe is described and a comparison of its performance and early experience of its clinical use are reported here. Initial results indicate that the integrated skin marking probe makes margin delineation under OCT image-guidance faster, more accurate and more clinically acceptable.