Device for producing an image of depth-dependent morphological structures of skin lesions

A device (10) for producing a plurality of images for assisting in characterizing skin lesions, the device comprising:

• a capturing unit (1) configured to selectively illuminate and capture recordings of an area of skin (11) presenting a skin lesion (12), the capturing unit (1) comprising a camera and magnifying optics (2) providing at least 160× optical magnification of the area of skin (11) for capturing morphological structures of the skin lesion (12);
• a focusing unit (3) comprising manual or automatic adjusting means associated with the magnifying optics (2) and configured to place a focal plane (F) of the magnifying optics (2) in a plurality of different depth planes (t1, . . . , tn) below a skin surface (t0) of the area of skin (11) starting from the skin surface;
• a computing unit (4) comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the computing unit configured to control the focusing unit (3) or the capturing unit (1) in such a manner that the capturing unit (1) captures a recording when the focal plane (F) is located in a respective depth plane (t1, . . . , tn), and the computing unit is configured for image production based on the image information provided by the capturing unit (1), wherein the computing unit (4) is configured to display a respective detail image (13) of morphological structures of the skin lesion (12) in a respective depth plane (t1, . . . , tn) as a live video image and as an individual image in combination with a variable control element (15) for displaying and adapting the respective depth plane (t1, . . . , tn) and in combination with a captured reference image (14) of the skin lesion (12).