Reflectance Confocal Microscopy of Wounds During Moh's Surgery: Feasibility Testing of a Mosaicing Algorithm for Intraoperative Imaging of Cancer Margins

Study Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a new instrument that shines light and takes digital pictures of skin. The goal is to develop a technique that may enable fast and accurate assessment of surgical margins in the excision of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The investigators will evaluate the pictures obtained by the confocal microscope to determine whether this technique may be useful in the future for helping Mohs surgeons remove cancers. In the future, patients may benefit with shorter surgery and improved care.

Primary Outcome

For the primary study objective, the Mohs surgeon will perform a qualitative assessment of the confocal mosaic. This will be a dichotomous assessment of whether the mosaic is of sufficient quality (contrast and resolution) to identify individual features. The specific features for BCC or SCC margins are tumor nests with nuclear atypia and increased nuclear density (relative to the density seen in normal basal cells).

Conditions Studied

Study Locations (4)