Many up-to-date optical techniques have been developed and applied recently in clinical practice for obtaining qualitatively and quantitatively new data from the investigated lesions. Due to their high sensitivity in detection of small changes, these techniques are widely used for detection of early changes in biological tissues. Light-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (LIFS) is one of the most promising techniques for early detection of cutaneous neoplasia. Increasing number of recent publications have suggested that optical coherence tomography (OCT) also has potential for non-invasive diagnosis of skin cancer. This recent work is a part of clinical trial procedure for introduction of LIFS technique into the common medical practice in National Oncological Medical Center in Bulgaria for diagnosis of non-melanoma skin cancer. We focus our attention here on basal cell carcinoma lesions and their specific features revealed by LIFS and OCT analysis. In this paper we prove the efficiency of using the combined LIFS-OCT method in skin lesions studies by integrating the complimentary qualities of each particular technique. For LIFS measurements several excitation sources, each emitting at 365, 385 and 405 nm maxima are applied. An associated microspectrometer detects in vivo the fluorescence signals from human skin. The main spectral features of the lesions and normal skin are discussed and their possible origins are indicated. OCT images are used to evaluate the lesion thickness, structure and severity stage, when possible. The obtained results could be used to develop a more complete picture of optical properties of these widely spread skin disorders. At the same time, our studies show that the combined LIFS-OCT method could be introduced in clinical algorithms for early tumor detection and differentiation between normal/benign/malignant skin lesions.
Collagenolytic and gelatinolytic matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors in basal cell carcinoma of skin: comparison with normal skin