Monday, August 4, 2008
Handheld Skin Resurfacing Device Gets FDA OK
Alma Lasers, a Buffalo Grove, IL affiliate of an Israeli company with the same name, is reporting that its fractional ablative device, the Pixel® CO2 OMNIFIT, has been cleared by the FDA for marketing in the United States.
The following is from the press release:
The Pixel CO2 OMNIFIT is Alma’s newest offering in skin rejuvenation and it is an upgrade to physicians’ existing CO2 skin resurfacing lasers. It is designed to provide patients with impressive results with just a fraction of the downtime compared to current treatments, and for significantly less money than replacing their current laser.The Pixel CO2 OMNIFIT handpiece fits onto most existing CO2 lasers and is designed to deliver a high degree of efficacy without the side effects or significant downtime associated with traditional CO2 resurfacing. By combining Alma’s proprietary and proven Pixel fractional technology with a standard CO2 resurfacing laser, the new Pixel CO2 OMNIFIT delivers a supremely effective treatment for aged, photo-damaged, and acne-scarred skin with minimal patient redness, irritation or downtime...
The Pixel CO2 OMNIFIT handpiece takes ablative patient downtime from 30 days to approximately three, making the procedure as appealing as many non-invasive approaches available to today’s busy patients.
And here's a product brochure:
Product page: Pixel C02 OMNIFIT Fractionated CO2 Adapter From Alma Lasers...
Press release: Alma Lasers Announces FDA Clearance of the Pixel® CO2 OMNIFIT Handpiece...
Flashback: HarmonyXL, Aesthetic Dermatologist's Multi-Tool
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Tuesday, June 3, 2008
HarmonyXL, Aesthetic Dermatologist's Multi-Tool
Alma Lasers (Buffalo Grove, IL) has received approval from the FDA to market the company's laser and light device for various aesthetic and medical skin treatments. Having no dermatologists on staff, we are somewhat perplexed by the lavish capabilities described in the press release:
The HarmonyXL device is the most comprehensive and versatile platform to enter the medical and aesthetic industry, as it is the first to combine lasers, pulsed light, near-infrared, LED and UVB technologies with multiple exchangeable handpieces to ensure easy and effective singular and combined therapeutic treatment. The HarmonyXL also accommodates new versions of Alma’s unique Advanced Fluorescence Technology (AFT) and several different laser technologies. Compared to its successful predecessor, HarmonyXL delivers higher energy and is the first Harmony model to incorporate Alma’s proprietary IN-MotionTM technology, which delivers effective energy with virtually no discomfort over a range of applications. Additionally, the HarmonyXL exclusively offers high-power Pixel® 2940 technology – a breakthrough for fractionated skin resurfacing treatments.
Press release: Alma Lasers Announces FDA Clearance of the HarmonyXL
Product page: HarmonyXL
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Wallet-Size Mulitspectral Imaging System for Skin Diagnostics
Georgia Tech is reporting that its scientists at the university's Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) developed a handheld low-cost technology to scan any surface for abnormalities. The investigators were actually working on a system that can empower "front line clinicians with no specialized training to detect and assess, in real-time, the severity of bruises and erythema, regardless of patient skin pigmentation or available lighting." Now the hope is that such a system can be used for detection and characterization of such things as melanoma, other forms of skin CA, or decubitus ulcers.
More about technology:
Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a narrowband filter mosaic that will expand the uses and functionality of multispectral imaging—a technology that enables subsurface characterization...In addition to this application, the filter could potentially offer a reliabile, low-cost method to instantaneously classify military targets, sort produce, inspect product quality in manufacturing, detect contamination in foods, perform remote sensing in mining, monitor atmospheric composition in environmental engineering and diagnose early stage cancer and tumors.
The technology was developed in Georgia Tech’s Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) as part of a project to design a portable erythema and bruise-detection technology that will enhance early prevention and diagnosis of pressure ulcers, a secondary complication for people with impaired mobility and sensation.
Currently, clinical assessment of bruises is subjective and unreliable, especially when on persons with darkly pigmented skin. Improved imaging can lead to earlier intervention which is vital in cases of suspected physical abuse. Similarly, early detection of erythema can trigger preventive care that can stop progression into pressure ulcers.
Pressure ulcers are a serious secondary complication for people with impaired mobility and sensation. Annual Medicare spending is conservatively approximated at $1.34 billion for the treatment of pressure ulcers. Early detection of erythema can prevent progression into more serious Stage III or Stage IV pressure ulcers.
The filter mosaic can be conveniently laminated with imaging sensors used in digital cameras. With a patent pending, CATEA researchers are currently seeking collaborative or financial support to further develop and design the device.
“Although multispectral imaging has matured into a technology with applications in many fields, clinicians and practitioners in these fields have generally stayed away from it due to extremely high costs and lack of portability,” said Dr. Stephen Sprigle, director of CATEA and professor of industrial design and human physiology. “Now, the possibilities are plentiful.”
Press release: New Technology Puts Biomedical Imaging in Palm of Hands...
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Friday, May 16, 2008
A Bright Light Against Dark Matter: A New Device to Fight Toe Nail Fungus
Nomir Medical Technologies of Waltham, Mass. is reporting that it plans to initiate a study of its Noveon® direct optical energy device. The company believes that its light-based system can target for elimination a number of bacterial and fungal infections, while also "promoting healthy tissue recovery." The first target on the company's list is everyone's favorite onychomycosis (toenail fungus). The representative for the company tells Medgadget that the device "utilizes two discrete near-infrared wavelengths at low power-- it is photobiologic in nature and doesn't use heat. Nomir is also developing products based off of its optical energy platform for MRSA, periodontal disease, and diabetic foot ulcers (wound care) in addition to OM (onychomycosis)."
From the press release:
The primary objective of the trial is to test the efficacy and safety of Noveon in treating patients with onychomycosis (toenail fungus). The target population for this study is patients with toenail onychomycosis, as confirmed by culture, with the goal of gaining a new FDA approval to use the device for the treatment of onychomycosis.“This pivotal trial initiation is a major step for Nomir, moving us closer to commercial launch of our first product utilizing our proprietary dual-wavelength optical energy technology,” stated Richard Burtt, CEO of Nomir Medical Technologies. “Noveon represents a novel treatment approach of using optical energy to address disease indications, such as onychomycosis, that are typically sub-optimally treated with traditional pharmaceutical drugs. In pilot studies, Noveon demonstrated 87% clinical improvements, and we are therefore hopeful for similarly positive outcomes from this investigation.”
In November 2007, Nomir received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to utilize Noveon during surgical procedures of the skin, subcutaneous tissues and nasal passages in dermatology, plastic surgery, podiatry, and otolaryngology. Nomir’s regulatory strategy accelerates the review process for the FDA by de-coupling the device clearance from the application clearance.
Forty evaluable subjects will be enrolled in the prospective, randomized, multi-site U.S. trial. It is expected that this will provide at least 30 evaluable subjects, two-thirds of which will be treated with Noveon and the remaining serving as controls. Study objectives include assessing clinical improvement and mycological decontamination of the treated area of the nail. Patients will receive four treatments over a four-month period and will be followed up to one year following the initial treatment to assess clinical improvement and mycological response.
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Monday, March 17, 2008
CellScope for Rural Microscopy On The Go
At the University of California Berkeley, a few handy researchers modified an off-the-shelf camera cellphone to produce a mobile microscope capable of 50x magnification. Coupled with the phone's natural ability to send out images, the device may help to virtually bring dermatologists, pathologists and oncologists to remote areas of the world.
Using Bluetooth, wi-fi and cellular networks, a phone needs no modification itself. Capable of 50x magnification today, the devices could provide twice that. A smaller prototype features its own light source."This could be useful even at home," suggests Fletcher [Associate Professor of Bioengineering at Berkeley --ed.], "where, for example, early warnings of a change in the shape of a mole could be sent to your clinician on a regular basis to monitor."
In addition, cancer patients could conduct their own blood cell counts that today require larger microscopes and particle counters.
Dr. Lam, Pediatric Oncologist at UCSF, is one of the grad students working on CellScope. He adds, "By no means do we think this is going to replace those large particle counters. It's just a good adjunct for the patient to have at home."
More, with video, from ABC...
Project page: Telemicroscopy for Disease Diagnosis...
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Wednesday, February 13, 2008
New Lasers for Better Skin
At the UT Southwestern Medical Center, dermatologists are employing a new carbon dioxide-based fractional laser for procedures like skin tightening, tattoo removal, and evening out differences in skin pigmentation.
“Fractional lasers are like aerating your lawn, where you have a bunch of holes in your lawn, but you have normal lawn in between. This allows for more rapid healing because intact, normal skin bridges the gap between the laser-induced injured skin,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kenkel, vice chairman of plastic surgery whose research involves the effects of lasers on tissue. “We can vary the distance between the holes, which has an effect on how much tissue we choose to treat. The treatment parameters are determined by what we are trying to accomplish for each of our patients.”Dr. Kenkel, director of the Clinical Center for Cosmetic Laser Treatment and chief of plastic surgery at the Veterans Administration Medical Center at Dallas, said the technology potentially could be one of the last decade’s biggest advancements in the laser world.
“What’s appealing about carbon dioxide lasers is that not only can you get surface and deeper skin changes, but you get heat that’s deposited into the skin resulting in improvement in wrinkles and skin tightening,” said Dr. Kenkel.
Press release: Plastic surgeons deploy new laser for wrinkle removal, acne scarring, tattoo removal
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Monday, February 4, 2008
Matrix RF from Syneron
Israel's Syneron Medical Ltd. are at the annual American Academy of Dermatology meeting in San Antonio this week to show off the firm's skin ablation devices that include the newly released Matrix RF applicator.
The Matrix RF applicator utilizes Syneron's patented Bi-Polar Radio Frequency technology to provide effective and comfortable skin rejuvenation. The tunable applicator, which may be used on Syneron's eLight™, eLaser™ and eMax™ platforms, allows for the adjustment of ablation and coagulation settings to vary treatment depth and the proportion of skin treated in each session. The Matrix RF will also feature a single-use disposable. The Matrix RF is the second product in Syneron's series of elos fractional treatments, which currently includes the Matrix IR™ device. Like all of Syneron's specialized applicators, the Matrix RF will be sold as an upgrade to the elos platforms, to be used along with other Syneron applicators to expand the range of aesthetic treatments physicians can offer from each eSeries platform.
Syneron product page: Products
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Friday, February 1, 2008
Fraxel re:pair™ for Ablative Fractional Resurfacing™
Reliant Technologies, Inc will be showing off its new Fraxel re:pair™ laser for CO2 skin resurfacing at the American Academy of Dermotology meeting in San Antonio, which is starting today.
The Fraxel re:pair laser system, the result of two years of clinical research, represents a new category in skin rejuvenation: Ablative Fractional Resurfacing (AFRTM) treatment. It is the only device on the market that has received FDA clearance specifically for skin resurfacing with a fractional mode of delivery. “Ablative fractional skin resurfacing with the Fraxel re:pair laser is the biggest breakthrough for wrinkle removal in the last 10 years,” said Christopher Zachary, FRCP, chair of the Department of Dermatology, University of California at Irvine. “Results approach those we can achieve with a facelift, with very few complications and limited downtime. The Fraxel re:pair system produces significant tissue tightening, wrinkle reduction and textural improvement, both on and off the face.” The Fraxel re:pair laser is the industry’s only minimally invasive, ablative fractional laser system that delivers a full spectrum of aesthetic treatment from Fractional MicroDermAblation™(FMDA™)treatment to Fractional Deep Dermal Ablation™ (FDDA™) treatment. It is the only ablative resurfacing device capable of being operated by a single clinician, because of its built-in smoke evacuation system, and capable of treating at depths from 300 micrometers (µm) to 1.6 mm into the dermis, all in a single hand piece.
Product page: Fraxel re:pair
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Tuesday, January 22, 2008
No More Needles with Virtual Biopsies
Researchers are exploring the possibility of using bioimpedance to quickly and accurately differentiate healthy tissue from pathological one.
Jye Smith from QUT’s [Queensland University of Technology --ed.] School of Physical and Chemical Sciences has developed a new diagnostic technique using bioimpedance spectroscopy to diagnose cervical and skin cancers.Bioimpedance measures the electrical characteristics of biological tissue and is used by gyms to calculate amounts of lean tissue, water and fat.
“It has only recently been applied to biological tissue to determine healthy, cancerous or dead cells,” Mr Smith said.
“It offers the possibility of a simple device that can be run over the surface of the skin or internal organ that can quickly, cheaply and accurately record changes in cellular structure that point to cancerous changes.”
Mr Smith said the bioimpedance technique sent tiny electrical currents into the tissue.
“By running the currents through a surface it can identify the boundaries of a lesion,” he said.
“If a cell’s structure has changed, the impedance characteristics change and clinicians can use the changes to diagnose the type of lesion.”
He said the technique picked up changes inside the cells, changes in cells’ membranes and also changes in the space between cells.
“By putting all this information together, it may be possible to diagnose types of cancer along with their boundaries.”
“The beauty of this technique is that the patient doesn’t need an anaesthetic, the data is immediate, and it has the potential to be as accurate as more time-consuming, expensive techniques.
Mr Smith said further development of the technique could very well see it make its way into GP or skin clinics.
Abstract: A Pilot Study For Tissue Characterisation Using Bioimpedance Mapping...
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Thursday, January 3, 2008
Skin From Hair
German researchers have developed a method to artificially grow skin cells in a lab that are derived from a patient's own stem cells found within hair roots. This work has a potential for all kinds of clinical and biomedical applications, such as plastic and reconstructive surgery, and development of specialized implants.
"We pluck a few hairs off the back of the patient's head and extract adult stem cells from their roots, which we then proliferate in a cell culture for about two weeks. Then we reduce the nutrient solution until it no longer covers the upper sides of the cells, exposing them to the surrounding air. The increased pressure exerted by the oxygen on the surfaces of the cells causes them to differentiate into skin cells," explains Emmendörffer. In this way, the researchers can grow numerous small pieces of skin, produced individually for each patient, which add up to a surface area of 10 to 100 square centimeters when pieced together. To ensure that they comply with the safety regulations at all times, the researchers are using new cleanrooms at the IZI, a state-of-the-art facility for producing different kinds of cell therapeutics. "We continuously measure the number of particles in the cleanrooms. If there are too many particles in the air, an alarm goes off," says Schmiedeknecht. The researchers expect to grow skin grafts for 10 to 20 patients a month in 2008, depending on how many doctors prescribe this therapy.
More from Fraunhofer Institute...
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Thursday, October 18, 2007
Needle Free Jet Injection Device for Skin Photodynamic Therapy
Pharmacy student Desmond Morrow at the Queen's University Belfast, together with Drs Paul McCarron and Ryan Donnelly, developed a novel device to assist in delivery of drugs for skin photodynamic therapy (PDT). The details are sketchy, but here's what we know:
The breakthrough at Queen's could benefit the growing numbers of skin cancer patients being treated with a technique called photodynamic therapy (PDT). This is where a light sensitive drug in the form of a cream is rubbed on the area affected by the cancer and a laser activates a component in the cream to destroy cancerous cells.Desmond Morrow pointed out the importance of his findings saying: "Photodynamic therapy is a relatively new form of skin cancer treatment which results in tumour death, however, sometimes its success in individual patients is limited by the poor penetration of the active agent into the tumour. Our research shows that a new way of administering the drug can improve the amount that crosses the skin barrier and gets to the required site."
Looking at the immediate benefit with this new form of treatment both Dr McCarron and Dr Donnelly commented: "In Northern Ireland, basal cell carcinoma (BBC) is a prevalent form of skin cancer. Conventional treatments for BCC include surgical excision and radiotherapy, which demonstrate acceptable clearance rates. However, both techniques are unsuitable for large or multiple lesions and can lead to poor cosmetic outcomes, such as scarring, especially on visible regions, like the face and upper torso."
Press release: Queen's injects new hope for skin cancer patients ...
(hat tip: TFOT)
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Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The SolarScan® Sentry for Melanoma Monitoring
You are looking at the images of SolarScan® Sentry, a new model of melanoma diagnostic and monitoring system, from Australia's Polartechnics Ltd. We had a post about the original SolarScan® back in December 2005.
Here's what the Sydney-based company says about its upcoming model:
SolarScan enables suspect lesions to be monitored for changes that signal malignancy.SolarScan is designed for ease of use in a busy practise. Its efficient user interface allows for rapid acquisition and processing of patient and lesion data.
Calibrated image storage allows future comparison of changes in patient lesions. SolarScan is the only digital dermoscopy system with calibration traceable to a common colour standard ensuring lesion reproducibility between visits...
SolarScan Sentry, featuring Polartechnics patented automated colour calibration system is now in a compact award winning console. The console has been designed for minumum weight and equipment footprint for convenience to the user. All attachments are directly accessible to the operator. The specially designed handpiece features a 5 megapixel 3-chip digital video camera providing improved lesion monitoring, a stand which protects it from damage and USB attachment for easy storage and mobility. SolarScan Sentry couples superb design with intelligent engineering.
New system's features:
Advance Imaging TechnologyHigh-resolution digital dermatoscopic images
Colour calibrated images using Polartechnics unique patented technology
Simple and fast image capture for ease of use in busy practice Advanced System Capabilities
"Tile" monitoring feature allows up to 4 calibrated images to be compared at a time to detect subtle changes
Reports can be attached to patient files within Patient Management Software
Ability to email reports
Network compatibility
Product page: SolarScan ...
Flashbacks: The SolarScan® ...
(hat tip: Gadget Lab)
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Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Clinical Accuracy Shown in Detecting Melanoma
Two blinded studies testing the effectiveness of using in vivo confocal microscopy machines by Lucid, a Rochester, New York firm, have produced positive results for detecting melanoma.
The study, lead by Dr. Giovanni Pellacani, contained a total of 351 equivocal melanocytic lesions that were difficult for expert dermoscopists to diagnose. 136 of the 351 lesions were malignant melanomas. The highest sensitivity demonstrated by confocal microscopy was 96.3%. The highest accuracy corresponded to a sensitivity of 91.9% and a specificity of 69.3%. The standard of comparison for the study was biopsy of all 351 lesions, followed by traditional pathological examination."By giving reliable diagnostic information comparable to histology, confocal imaging represents the only feasible alternative to biopsy in the decision-making process faced by dermatologists examining melanocytic lesions," said Dr. Giovanni Pellacani, Department of Dermatology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy, one of the world's leading in-vivo confocal imaging medical researchers. "Consequently, in vivo confocal microscopy is used at Modena and in several other melanoma clinics in Europe for the analysis of melanocytic lesions," Dr. Pellacani continued.
Lucid provides details about the technology:
Using advanced laser technology, VivaScope imagers can produce optical images of skin lesions with incredible cellular resolution, enabling medical professionals to see cellular morphology -- in real time, in living tissue...The images produced by confocal microscopy have similar resolution to images used by pathologists in diagnosing disease...
In operation, a virtual point source of light, derived from a laser, passes through beam-shaping optics into a beamsplitter. The beamsplitter reflects the laser beam to a scanning optics assembly that scans the beam in two orthogonal directions. The scanned beam is next directed toward the entrance pupil of an objective lens that focuses the beam to a point within the sample. Due to either natural index of refraction variations or fluorescence in the tissue, a portion of the light at the focal point propagates back toward the objective lens and is collected. This returning collected light passes back through the system and the beamsplitter to be imaged via a pinhole aperture preceding the photodetector. The pinhole aperture is matched in size to the illuminated spot. As a result, the detector receives light only from a thin, in-focus plane in the sample. Light from out-of-focus planes is rejected at the pinhole. The point source of light, the illuminated spot in the sample, and the pinhole aperture lie in optically conjugate focal planes - hence the name "confocal."
Press release: Large Blinded Clinical Study Achieves High Accuracy for the Diagnosis of Melanoma Using In Vivo Confocal Microscopy
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Thursday, August 23, 2007
Portable Digitizer for Wound Monitoring
ARANZ Medical, a Kiwi firm, applied the same technology that was used to animate the Gollum in the Lord of the Rings to assess wound size and depth. A small PDA powered laser digitizer, dubbed the Silhouette Mobile, can now be used by nurses to track the progress of wound healing. The real advantage to using the device is due to the fact that without it nurses track the healing process by memory, using a considerably more subjective methodology - their eyes. From the company:
The ARANZ Medical Silhouette product suite is a computerized wound imaging, analysis and documentation system designed for wound care professionals.Through the intelligent use of technology this solution captures images of the patient using a custom-designed camera, allows accurate quantitative information to be derived from those images, and builds that information into an electronic patient record for printing, electronic distribution, and archiving. Information about the wound's measurement history is available so the serial progression of the wound status is also calculated and presented. This information is stored to a robust database and can be shared with other hospital information systems using international protocols for medical data interchange.
Using wireless technology patient information that is gathered at remote sites, for example by a nurse in the field, can be immediately transmitted to a central repository or to a specialist for consultation. This information can include images, quantitative measurements and other wound assessment information gathered at the time of patient visit. Such transfer allows rapid and informed patient management decisions to be made.
Video of the device and article from New Zealand's News One...
Product page...
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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Sweet Sassy Molassy
The Washington Post is asking: Can honey make a comeback in wound care?
All honey is medicinal to some extent. Its low water content allows it to draw fluid away from wounds; its high sugar content makes it difficult for microorganisms to grow. What's more, worker bees secrete an enzyme, glucose oxidase, into nectar, which releases low levels of the disinfectant hydrogen peroxide when honey makes contact with a damp surface such as a wound. Because of a chemical reaction with tissue, honey also makes healing wounds smell good.From the time of the ancient Sumerians, who prescribed a mix of river dust and honey for ailing eyes, until the early 20th century, honey was a conventional therapy in fighting infection, but its popularity waned with the advent in the mid-20th century of a potent, naturally occurring antibiotic: the blue-green mold penicillin.
...The South African Medical Journal reported in 2006 on a trial among gold miners in which honey worked as well as, and was more cost-effective than, a standard gel on shallow wounds and abrasions.
The European Journal of Medical Research reported in 2003 that honey had an 85 percent success rate in treating infected post-op Caesarean wounds, compared with a 50 percent success rate for conventional interventions.
The article has some head-scratchers, such as a honey researcher's tendency to mention his wife's buttocks, and the claim that no new antibiotic classes have been discovered since 1970 (we're aware of two and are hardly up on our ID research). But overall, honey's resurgence sounds reasonable, and reminds us of another document supporting the use of honey for wound care -- this one going back to ancient Egypt, and residing a few blocks from the Manhattan office of Medgadget.
More from the Washington Post...
Flashback: The Edwin Smith Papyrus, Orac's Account of the ES Papyrus at the Met
Hat tip: Tig!
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Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Diagnosing Skin Cancers with Light, Not Scalpels
Old Way: Patient asks "Doc is this mole on my face cancerous?"
Doc says "Let me cut a chunk out and send it to the lab. We'll know if its cancerous in a few days."
New Way: Patient asks "Doc is this mole on my face cancerous?
Doc says "Let me touch it with my fiber optic cable and develop a 3D cellular-scale image. I'll have you diagnosed in just a few femtoseconds...
From Duke University:
"The standard way physicians do a diagnosis now is to cut out a mole and look at a slice of it with a microscope," said Warren Warren, the James B. Duke Professor of chemistry, radiology and biomedical engineering, and director of Duke's new Center for Molecular and Biomedical Imaging. "What we're trying to do is find cancer signals they can get to without having to cut out the mole."This is the first approach that can target molecules like hemoglobin and melanin and get microscopic resolution images the equivalent of what a doctor would see if he or she were able to slice down to that particular point," Warren said.
The distributions of hemoglobin, a component of red blood cells, and melanin, a skin pigment, serve as early warning signs for skin cancer growth. But because skin scatters light strongly, simple microscopes cannot be used to locate those molecules except right at the surface. Although laser methods have been developed to probe deeper down for some other molecules that can be made to glow, both melanin and hemoglobin remain dark and inaccessible using those methods.
Warren's group has now developed a technology for coaxing both hemoglobin and melanin inside questionable skin moles to emit light by exciting them with highly controlled laser pulses.
The innovation uses a delicate interplay between two laser beams, each emitting a different color of light. To keep the skin from overheating in the process, the lasers must also be able to pulse on for only femtoseconds -- a thousand trillionths of a second -- at a time.
The glow of the hemoglobin- and melanin-bearing structures can be magnified by a microscope outside the skin and manipulated by computers to create cellular-scale images. The noninvasive technique could enable doctors to see as much as a millimeter below the skin's surface -- more than enough for diagnosis, Warren said.
"What this is leading to is for a doctor to be able to touch a mole with a fiberoptic cable and characterize what is going on inside it," he said.
"Today, if you visit a dermatologist, he or she will probably see many moles on your body. But the difficulty is trying to figure out which of those, if any, are dangerous."
Warren's group demonstrated at a March conference of the American Physical Society how the technique can visualize melanin from inside an excised human melanoma.
Press release: Diagnosing Skin Cancers with Light, Not Scalpels ...
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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Malignant Mole Bikini: Fashionable, Educational
Fiona Carswell, artist, graphic designer and creator of the smoking jacket with lungs, really understands how to motivate people towards better health. Another of her fabulous creations is swim wear, that when exposed to sunlight, begins to display patches of malignant melanoma. True, cancerous moles on swimsuits probably won't win any fashion awards in the near future, but it definitely gets the point across. Perhaps the general theme could be applied to children's clothes to help signify to parents when their children need to come in out of the sun...
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Monday, May 14, 2007
Making Skin Cancer Therapy as Convenient as a Band-Aid
Wired is reporting on a new cheap, painless, and portable treatment for skin cancer.
Scottish company Lumicure has developed a portable device that combines a tiny light, a photosensitizing cream and a bandage that, if approved by the Food and Drug Administration, could treat skin cancer conveniently with molecular precision."It can be worn by the patient in a (Band-Aid), while the battery is carried like an iPod," said professor Ifor Samuel of the Organic Semiconductor Centre at Scotland's University of St. Andrews, who helped develop the technology, in a statement.
Skin cancer, which typically requires painful or invasive treatments, affects 40 percent of all Americans at some point during their lives. The Lumicure treatment would cost between $200 and $300, compared with roughly $15,000 to $20,000 for the standard therapy. It could also eliminate the need for chemotherapy in some cases.
Lumicure's treatment is a new twist on an existing treatment called photodynamic therapy. It starts with a cream containing aminolevulinic acid, which becomes photosensitive when it comes in contact with a cancer lesion. When exposed to light, the cream interacts with only the cancerous cells, making it a very selective skin treatment.
Lumicure's light source is a low-powered organic light-emitting diode embedded in a small adhesive device. Its battery module -- roughly the size of an MP3 player -- fits easily in a pocket.
Photodynamic therapy available today requires treatment at a hospital using heavy equipment. It's also uncomfortable for patients because they must stay very still under extremely intense light; the treatment also can leave painful skin lesions. The new treatment takes longer than the standard therapy, but there's almost no discomfort and no scarring.
"As traditional photodynamic therapy is delivered in a physician's office, this new technology, if proven effective in clinical trials, may offer the possibility of increased access and ease of use for many patients," said Dr. Isaac Neuhaus, assistant professor at University of California at San Francisco Dermatologic Surgery and Laser Center.
More at Wired...
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Thursday, March 22, 2007
A Tale of the Tape
When it comes to wart removal, duct tape may not be as impressive as previously thought:
The tape supposedly works by irritating the skin and stimulating the body's immune system to attack the virus that causes warts. It earned a place in the medicine cabinet in 2002, when a small study showed it to be effective on children and young adults.This time, a study among older adults found duct tape helped only 21 percent of the time and was no more better than moleskin, a cotton-tape bandage used to protect the skin.
But researchers used transparent duct tape. Only later did they learn that the transparent variety does not contain rubber, unlike the better-known, gray duct tape that appeared to be effective in the 2002 study.
Seriously, folks. You're studying duct tape. What, was they grey kind too expensive for your study? Were the wart-infested patients protesting the cosmetics of nontransparent tape? How do procedural mistakes like this happen?
More (uses) from Wikipedia...
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» Hygeia -- and Bye, Odor! (March 9, 2007)
» VitiGam: Vitiligo-derived IgGs for Melanoma (March 6, 2007)
» LaserComb For Your Chrome Dome (February 16, 2007)
» Laser Hair Removal Comes Home (December 12, 2006)
» Siascopy Sees Stuff In Skin (December 8, 2006)
» Parafricta Fabric (November 29, 2006)
» "Light Bandage" for Skin Cancer (October 31, 2006)
» Healing in the MIST (October 24, 2006)
» The Future of Tanning Lotion? (September 22, 2006)
» Medhesive: The Power of Mollusks, Harnessed for Healthcare (August 25, 2006)
» Smoothbeam® Laser for Acne (August 16, 2006)
» A Measured Response to Bikinis (July 27, 2006)
» AcryMed's Oxygenesys for Wound O2 Delivery (June 2, 2006)
» Aussie Tan-inducing Implant Tested (April 19, 2006)
» Lasers to Melt Fat, Treat Acne, Fight Terror (April 11, 2006)
» Blown Away by Triton (March 30, 2006)
» Skin Galvanometry for the Masses (March 24, 2006)
» iPledge Allegiance Required for Accutane (February 28, 2006)
» The SolarScan® (December 1, 2005)
» Gemini Laser for Acne Rosacea (November 28, 2005)
» We're Doing Five Blades (September 16, 2005)
» CAGE for Assessing Tan Addiction (August 29, 2005)