Investigation of the Effect of Compression Pressure in Contact OCT Imaging on the Measurement of Epidermis Thickness

ABSTRACT Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive 3D imaging technique that offers significant advantages over traditional microscopy and biopsy in measuring epidermal thickness (ET) when assessing skin conditions. However, OCT imagining is often required to be in a contact mode for mitigating the issues of subject movement and uneven skin topology. It is not known whether the contact would affect the ability of ET measurements. In this study, we investigate the relationship between the contact pressure applied and the ET measurements. We observed progressive deformation in the epidermis with the increase of compression forces, where a notable decrease of up to 13% in ET measurement and 70% decrease in capillary vessels was noted when imaging was in contact mode. We also observed 8.1% less deformation properties in scar tissue than in nearby healthy tissue. Our study underscored the importance of controlled pressure in contact imaging mode, which is often neglected.