Review of Handheld Elastic-Scattering Spectroscopy Device on Melanoma Lesions
Source: Dermatology Times, November 2022
A poster presentation from the 2022 SDPA Conference reviewed an elastic-scattering spectroscopy device for melanoma detection.
Melanoma is one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer across the world due to the challenges in detecting it early on. Other common skin cancers include basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). According to a poster presentation from the 2022 Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants Conference in Miami, Florida, 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70, and more than 2 people die of skin cancer in the United States every hour. The study authors believe leveraging skin technology for skin cancer evaluation may reduce associated mortality and morbidity, avoiding unnecessary biopsies and decreasing healthcare costs.
The study authors reviewed an elastic-scattering spectroscopy (ESS) device, an optical tissue sampling technique that can distinguish between normal and abnormal tissue in vivo by recording photons scattered back from chromophores. A handheld, non-invasive ESS device may provide earlier detection of melanomas, and the study aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of an ESS device in skin lesions suspicious of melanoma.