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Atopic dermatitis, characterized by itchiness and inflammation, often results in increased skin thickness. Traditional treatments with topical corticosteroids may compound this effect. Addressing the need for accurate epidermal measurement and the slow acquisition times of previous methods, we have developed a high-speed OCT system utilizing a 1.67 MHz Fourier-domain Mode-locked (FDML) and a MEMS scanner, providing a 3 kHz frame rate. The measured axial and lateral resolutions are 13-14 μm and 35 μm in air, respectively. We have tested our system on the dorsal skin of human hands in vivo, targeting a volume scan of 2.8 x 2.8 x 5 mm3. The acquisition from the digitizer to PC memory only takes 0.1 seconds. To assess the epidermal thickness, we have developed an automatic segmentation algorithm for the detection of the skin surface and epidermal-dermal junction. The results indicate that the epidermal thickness is mostly between 110 to 150 μm on healthy dorsal hand skin. Additionally, we have generated an epidermal thickness map overlaying the enface skin image, providing a comprehensive view of the skin's structural integrity.
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