Michelson Diagnostics (MDL) has released a suite of in vivo images from its prototype ‘VivoSight’ hand-held OCT probe. The subject matter scanned with the probe includes skin, hair, moles and a tooth of a volunteer.

The company plans to launch the VivoSight scanner with clinical approvals in late spring 2009, and the images give an insight into the probe’s capabilities. The high image quality is enabled by Michelson’s unique ‘Multi-Beam OCT’ technology, which provides double the image resolution available from single-beam OCT scanners – better than 10 µm in axial and transverse directions.

“Initial ex vivo experiments on clinical biopsy samples have been extremely exciting”, said Dr Gordon McKenzie, MDL’s Medical Applications Director. “Key clinical features are clearly visible during hand-held use, and the added flexibility and near-video frame rate makes scanning samples for significant features extremely easy. We plan to start in vivo trials with our collaborators as soon as the CE mark is in place in early summer.”