VivaScope 1500 - A CONFOCAL IMAGER TO ASSISTS PHYSICIANS IN CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE SKIN
The VivaScope® 1000, introduced in 1997, and the subsequent VivaScope® 1500 have been historically the workhorse confocal imagers for clinical dermatology research, resulting in well over 100 publications in peer reviewed medical journals. The research results presented in these papers are pointing the way to define potential uses of VivaScope confocal imagers in dermatological practice.
The VivaScope® 1500 confocal imager will continue to be the clinical workhorse. Refereed medical publications suggest the VivaScope 1500 has potential utility in many dermatologic applications. Large clinical trials are underway in the U.S. and around the world to validate the findings published in these journals, including the following:
• Pigmented Lesion Assessment "A total score, ranging from 0 to 8, was calculated for each skin lesion... Considering lesions with a score equal to or greater than 3, a 97.3% sensitivity and a 72.3% specificity were obtained..."(Pellacani, et. al.)
"Remarkably, using the presence or absence of monomorphic melanocytes as a single diagnostic criterion, the classification results with a sensitivity of 98.15% and a specificity of 98.89% were superior to the intuitive, integrative judgment of the observers." (Gerger, et. al.)
Non-Pigmented Lesion Assessment "The presence of two or more criteria is 100% sensitive for the diagnosis of BCC, and with 4 or more RCM criteria present the specificity was 95.7% and sensitivity was 82.9%." (Nori, et. al.)
Actinic Keratosis "Approximately 97.7% of all skin lesions were correctly identified as AK by RCM evaluation, whereas 2.3% were incorrectly described as normal, unaffected skin samples. Evaluation criteria consistently visualized by RCM in the presence of actinic changes included keratinoyte atypia, nuclear and cellular pleomorphism, hyperkeratosis, parakeratosis, inflammatory cells, blood vessel dilatation and solar elastosis." (Ulrich, et. al.)
Differentiating Allergic and Irritant Contact Dermatitis "RCM [Reflectance Confocal Microscopy] evaluation parameters included stratum corneum (SC) disruption, parakeratosis, stratum spinosum (SS) and stratum granulosum (SG) spongiosis, and exocytosis. Overall, there was high specificity for all RCM features, ranging from 95.8% to 100%. Sensitivity ranged from 51.9% to 96.3%." (Astner, et. al.)
Photodamage & Aging "Histometric measurements by in vivo confocal laser scanning microscopy are a sensitive and non-invasive tool for characterizing and quantifying histological changes of the epidermis and papillary dermis due to ageing." (Sauermann, et. al.)
Pigmentation "In vivo visualization of epidermal melanin was performed by reflectance-mode confocal microscopy (RCM).RCM images correlated well with the Fontana-Masson-stained sections for melanin..." (Yamashita, et. al.)
The VivaScope® 1500 system includes easy-to-use application software for the entry of patient data and the acquisition and storage of images. System controls for the confocal imager are seamlessly integrated, and the software provides a transparent DICOM interface to Lucid's VivaNet® medical image server.
"... the workhorse confocal imagers for clinical dermatology ..."
A tissue ring is applied to the skin to stabilize and isolate the imaging site.
The VivaScope® is nested into the tissue ring, and quickly captures cellular resolution images of the site. The noninvasive nature of the VivaScopySM imaging procedure allows repeated imaging of the same site in vivo, over time.
The VivaScope® 1000, introduced in 1997, and the subsequent VivaScope® 1500 have been historically the workhorse confocal imagers for clinical dermatology research, resulting in well over 100 publications in peer reviewed medical journals. The research results presented in these papers are pointing the way to define potential uses of VivaScope confocal imagers in dermatological practice. 
