Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Jan 23: A team of German researchers has developed a breakthrough non-invasive skin imaging technology that can detect early signs of cardiovascular risk, offering new hope for timely prevention and personalised treatment of heart disease.
The technology, known as Fast-RSOM skin scanning, is capable of capturing highly detailed images of tiny blood vessels beneath the skin and identifying subtle changes in blood flow, oxygen levels and tissue composition that are not visible through conventional imaging methods. Importantly, it can detect early-stage microvascular endothelial dysfunction (MiVED), a condition linked to the initial development of cardiovascular disease.
According to scientists from the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Fast-RSOM provides, for the first time, a precise and non-invasive way to assess early vascular damage in humans before clinical symptoms appear.
“With fast-RSOM, we can noninvasively assess endothelial dysfunction at single-capillary and skin-layer resolution in humans,” said Dr Hailong He of the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging at Helmholtz Munich.
Dr Angelos Karlas, co-first author and vascular surgeon at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) University Hospital, said the technology offers an unprecedented view of how cardiovascular disease begins at the microvascular level.
The study, published in the journal Light: Science & Applications, highlights that Fast-RSOM can generate high-resolution, dynamic biomarkers that reveal early impairments in blood vessel function. These changes are commonly associated with risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and obesity, often long before serious complications develop.
Unlike traditional risk assessments that rely on medical history or visible symptoms, Fast-RSOM can quantitatively measure the actual impact of these risk factors on the microvascular system. This allows doctors to identify high-risk individuals earlier and monitor the effectiveness of lifestyle changes or medical treatments more accurately.
RSOM (Raster Scan Optoacoustic Mesoscopy) works by using short pulses of light to generate ultrasound signals, producing detailed three-dimensional images of structures beneath the skin.
Researchers believe this innovation could significantly improve early detection, prevention strategies and long-term management of cardiovascular health.