Near real time confocal microscopy of amelanotic tissue: Dynamics of aceto-whitening enable nuclear segmentation

High resolution, in vivo confocal imaging of amelanotic epithelial tissue m ay offer a clinically useful adjunct to standard histopathologic techniques . Application of acetic acid has been shown to enhance contrast in confocal images of these tissues. In this study, we record the time course of aceto -whitening at the cellular level and determine whether the contrast provide d enables quantitative feature analysis. Confocal images and videos of cerv ical specimens were obtained throughout the epithelium before, during and p ost-acetic acid after the application of 6% acetic acid. Aceto-whitening oc curs within seconds after the application. The confocal imaging system reso lved sub-cellular detail throughout the entire epithelial thickness and pro vided sufficient contrast to enable quantitative feature analysis. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America.