Currently used imaging methods for diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) frequently come along with exposure to radiation and can often only show long-term effects of the disease. The aim of the study was to check the feasibility of a new optoacoustic imaging method to identify PsA. 22 psoriasis patients and 19 healthy volunteers underwent examination using multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT). The presence of arthritis was assessed via quantification of optoacoustic signal intensity of the endogenous chromophores oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin. We conducted high-resolution real-time ultrasound images of the finger joints. The semi quantitative analysis of the optoacoustic signals for both hemoglobin species showed a significant higher blood content and oxygenation in PsA patients compared to healthy controls.

Our results indicate that MSOT might allow detection of inflammation in an early stage. If the data is further confirmed, this technique might be a suitable tool to avoid delay of diagnosis of PsA.

当前使用的用于诊断银屑病关节炎（PsA）的成像方法经常伴随放射线照射，并且通常只能显示疾病的长期影响。这项研究的目的是检查一种新的光声成像方法鉴定PsA的可行性。22名牛皮癣患者和19名健康志愿者接受了多光谱光声层析成像（MSOT）检查。通过定量内源性发色团氧合和脱氧血红蛋白的光声信号强度来评估关节炎的存在。我们进行了手指关节的高分辨率实时超声图像。对两种血红蛋白种类的光声信号进行的半定量分析表明，与健康对照相比，PsA患者的血液含量和氧合明显更高。

我们的结果表明，MSOT可能允许早期发现炎症。如果进一步证实了数据，则该技术可能是避免延迟诊断PsA的合适工具。