New Hope for Port Wine Stain Patients from a Novel Image-Guided Treatment

New 'OCT' scanning can image and measure the tiny blood vessels in the skin, to help guide laser treatment of disfiguring skin lesions.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, June 10, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Michelson Diagnostics Ltd. (MDL) announces increased outcome benefits from a powerful new treatment approach for patients with Port Wine Stain birthmarks and other disfiguring conditions of the superficial blood vessels in skin, such as hemangiomas, rosacea and spider veins.

The novel technique, known as OCT image-guided treatment, utilizes a high-resolution laser scanner to detect and image the tiny blood vessels in the skin, so that the depth, diameter and density of these vessels can be accurately characterized. This information is crucial for optimizing the settings for laser or Broadband Light (BBL) treatments, so that diseased and abnormal vessels are destroyed with maximum efficiency. This holds the potential for improved clearance of the condition and with fewer treatment sessions.

“We are enthusiastic about the results we are seeing with our VivoSight OCT-guided treatments of Port Wine Stain birthmarks”, said Dr Roy Geronemus of the Laser & Skin Surgery Center of New York, and who has been testing the VivoSight OCT system, “This new technology has great potential to change therapies for vascular conditions. The first results are very encouraging, and we are evaluating the technology to guide treatment of other conditions beyond Port Wine Stains.” 

Optical Coherence Tomography, or OCT, is used by dermatologists for precision imaging of skin morphology and vascular patterns, using a hand-held probe. Michelson Diagnostics has now released a new version of the VivoSight OCT scanner which can automatically extract critical vessel parameters and display them in real time, to help clinicians choose the optimal treatment settings on their laser or BBL device.

“I use the VivoSight system in my practice all the time and have been working with the technology for over three years and we are finding VivoSight OCT to be useful for a variety of conditions.”, said Dr. Jill Waibel, of Miami Dermatology & Laser Institute. “Not only do we use OCT to guide the treatment of patients with vascular skin conditions, but also to guide treatment of vessels in scars, resulting in better and faster results. The new vessel software on the device will make this straightforward and intuitive.”

UK-based Michelson Diagnostics Ltd (Maidstone, Kent) is collaborating with Sciton Inc. (Palo Alto, CA), the leading US manufacturer of medical and aesthetic lasers and light source technologies, to bring to market a range of OCT-image-guided skin treatments. 

Jon Holmes, CEO of Michelson Diagnostics, remarks: “We are working with Sciton and with Key-Opinion-Leader clinicians in multiple institutions in the USA and globally, to develop new OCT image-guided laser and light-treatment capabilities for many skin conditions, including vascular problems, scars, non-melanoma skin cancer and more. Our vision is a new paradigm in which skin specialists are no longer ‘flying blind’ when they treat, but instead they can apply all the power of imaging, just like MRI, CT and Ultrasound are used, to guide treatments for a variety of conditions”.

The VivoSight OCT Scanner is being demonstrated this week at the World Congress of Dermatology, Milan, booth no. B13 (Sciton).