A biopsy is the only sure way to diagnose skin cancer, but having good confidence that a lesion is cancerous before a biopsy can reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies performed. A new tool developed by researchers at University of Texas at Austin uses three different mechanisms to image a lesion, potentially providing a new way to identify suspected tumors. It’s currently undergoing pilot clinical trials.
The device uses Raman spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy at the same time to peer into the lesion. The three combine to help spot increased oxygen consumption as the cancerous tissue displays different optical properties from the healthy stuff around it. Readings take about five seconds to perform using the probe which is only about the size of a pen. It’s connected to a computer that does the image processing. The probe is cheap to manufacture, so if clinical trials pan out positively for the new device, we will hopefully see this technology rolling out soon to your local dermatologist’s office.
Study in Review of Scientific Instruments: Design and characterization of a novel multimodal fiber-optic probe and spectroscopy system for skin cancer applications…
American Institute of Physics: 3-in-1 Optical Skin Cancer Probe…
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