HEALTH TECH: Handheld device to diagnose skin cancer
October 14, 2019 • 1 min read
-- Forget about scalpels – handheld scanners could be the future of skin cancer detection.
Researchers at New York-based Stevens Bio-Electromagnetics Laboratory have found a way to use millimetre-wave radiation — the same shortwave rays used in mobile phones and airport security scanners – to detect skin lesions and determine whether they are cancerous or benign.
The technology could ultimately be incorporated into a simple handheld device to diagnose skin cancer.
Project developers say the technology has the potential to reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies by 50%, in the process disrupting America’s $5.3 billion diagnostic market for skin cancer.
Millimetre-wave rays penetrate certain materials and bounce off others, which is why airport scanners beep when you leave car keys in your pocket. Just as metal reflects more energy than human flesh, cancerous tumours reflect more energy than healthy skin, making it possible to identify diseased tissue.
What’s more, the new technology generates real-time 3D images of tumours, providing clearer guidance to surgeons and eliminating the need for exploratory biopsies.