Objective assessment of dermal fibrosis in cutaneous scarring, using optical coherence tomography, high-frequency ultrasound and immunohistomorphometry of human skin.

Time-matched comparison images between haematoxylin and eosin, OCT and HFUS demonstrated that epidermal and dermal structures were better distinguished by OCT. HFUS enabled deeper visualization of the dermis including the subcutaneous tissue. Choice of device was dependent on the depth of scar type, parameters to be measured and morphological detail required in order to provide better objective quantitative indices of the quality and extent of dermal fibrosis.