Feasibility of videocapillaroscopy for characterization of microvascular patterns in skin lesions

Identification of specific vascular patterns in skin formations is important for non-invasive differential diagnosis of benign and malignant tissues. Accurate blood vessel mapping and quantitative analysis of the vessels morphology may increase the diagnostic efficiency significantly in comparison to conventional dermatoscopy methods. In this paper, we propose videocapillaroscopy technique for non-invasive visualization of microvascular architecture right in the nevi area. It includes acquisition of skin lesion images by exoscope-based imaging system and their digital processing including non-uniformity correction, local and global stabilization, detection and quantification of vessels, comparison of the obtained vessel maps with the reference data. We have demonstrated the efficiency of microvascular network visualization in various melanocytic skin formations. Proposed technique may complement conventional dermatoscopy for diagnosing skin lesions and become especially effective in the early stages of diseases.