Spectrophotometric Intracutaneous Imaging (siascopy): Method and Clinical Applications

SIAscopy – Spectrophotometric Intracutaneous Analysis – is a new optical skin imaging method in which computer reconstructed images reveal a number of aspects of skin histology, namely the concentration of epidermal melanin, the concentration of dermal blood, the thickness of the papillary dermis and, in pathological cases, the presence of dermal melanin. Due to its ability to provide a unique insight into the skin histology in vivo, SIAscopy is becoming a preferred tool for the diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions and early melanoma detection. Other applications, both clinical and not, are in the experimental stage of development.