Table 1.

Technical performance characteristics of relevant dermatological imaging methods and raster‐scan optoacoustic mesoscopy (RSOM)

	Reflectance Confocal Microscopy (RCM)1, 7, 89	Multiphoton Microscopy (MPM)1, 25, 90	Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)24, 25, 28, 91, 92	20‐MHz High‐frequency ultrasound (HFUS)34, 37, 93	Raster‐scan optoacoustic mesoscopy (RSOM)33, 59, 94
Contrast mechanism	Light reflection	Light Absorption	Reflection of low‐coherent light	Reflection of ultrasound waves	Light Absorption
Axial resolution, μm	3–5	1	5–10, 3a	30	5
Lateral resolution, μm	0.5–1	0.3	10–15, 3a	200	20
Penetration depth, mm	0.2–0.25	0.2	1–2, 0.57a 0.5b	10	1.5 (visible light), 5 (NIRc)
Typical field of view, mm 2	0.50 × 0.50	0.35 × 0.35	6 × 6 1.8 × 1.5a	8 × 12	4 × 2d
Current state of development	Clinical practice	Clinical research	Clinical practice	Clinical practice	Clinical research

^aHigh‐definition OCT (HD‐OCT).

^bOCT‐based angiography.

^cNear‐infrared light.

^dTypical field‐of‐view; fields up to 8 × 8 mm² are feasible.